Remember
by LoveFangs91
Summary: Hallow is in town and she wants to sink her teeth into Eric. Trouble is, he's devoted to Sookie. His curse throws both himself and Sookie into turmoil, can their relationship survive, and will he ever remember? AU and lemons
1. First Signs

**Hello!**

**Welcome to my new story! I won't bother with a big note here, so Charlaine Harris owns the wonderful Southern Vampire Mysteries. **

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"Hello honey, I'm home!" I called out with a chuckle as I let myself into Eric's house with my own key.

"You know I hate that." He replied and I saw him walking out of the bedroom with a towel hanging loosely around his hips. I couldn't decide whether I was lucky or unlucky he was wearing a towel. My eyes took in the well defined muscles of his stomach that still had a few stray beads of water trailing down. I could also see the little trail of dark blond hair trailing from his belly button and disappearing down into the towel. I was definitely unlucky.

"That's why I do it." I laughed again as I hung up my coat and bag, shucking my shoes as well before walking over to him. "How are you?"

"Better now." He grinned, showing his fangs had elongated. That's when the fun started. I was sharply pulled against him and I didn't care I was getting damp. My arms wrapped around his neck as I went up on tip toes to meet his lips with enthusiasm and I felt his large hands grasp my waist holding me in place. Our lips moved together slowly, our movements filled with passion and tenderness until our tongues met, massaging together with fiery abandon.

"When do we have to be at the bar?" I asked, only breaking away from him enough to get my words out.

"Half an hour, there isn't enough time for what I want to do to you. Quickie though?" His fangs were sharp against my tongue and I purposefully pressed my tongue against it, letting the tip of one tooth break the skin. Blood began to ooze out slowly the tiny wound, seeping over my tongue and into his mouth. His tongue became more forceful on mine as he got the first taste, a deep growling moan emanated from his chest setting another one off in my throat.

"Save it for later, we'll have the rest of the night." I teased, pulling back and letting my arms fall down from around his neck so they rested on his hard chest, feeling the muscles that were tensed up underneath my palms.

"Teasing woman," he growled out at me but there was a smile across his lips while he was speaking and I knew he wouldn't be mad. If he was he had only to think of the hours later that we would be completely alone with no interruptions. He placed another deep kiss on my lips, sucking deliciously on my tongue to get the last little bit of my blood before pulling back completely. "Faster we get there, the faster we can get back." He turned around and headed back to the en-suite bathroom in our bedroom. The towel had slunk dangerously low on his hips, threatening to fall away completely with any sudden movement; the tops of his buttocks were showing and I barely resisted the urge to sink my fingers into the flesh there. He'd only taken about two paces when he pulled the towel away revealing the most glorious butt I'd ever seen. My eyes shut tightly; if I looked any longer we certainly wouldn't be getting to the bar on time and I wanted more than a quickie tonight.

I'd just got back in from working the afternoon shift at Merlotte's where I was still a waitress despite Eric's pretty consistent moaning about it. The truth is though I enjoyed my job and I didn't want to waitress at Fangtasia, no matter how much I loved the bar and Eric, there was no way I was going to dress up as a member of the Addams family every night for work. I walked into the bedroom, going straight to the walk in closet so that I wouldn't risk a glance of naked Viking again, and began to undress. I changed out of the winter uniform we were still wearing, it was technically still winter with it being early March but the days were getting much warmer whilst the nights were still pretty long. I grabbed vampire bar appropriate dress; black jeans, red vest top, black and red checked shirt and black pumps. Well, it was as gothic as I was going to go.

When I emerged from the closet Eric was lounging on the bed in what appeared to be down time; he wasn't moving at all and he appeared to have been carved out of stone. He was draped across the massive bed with his knees at the edge so that his feet were dropping down so that his toes barely touched the floor that's how tall the bed was. His arms were folded behind his head with his biceps bunched up so that they were straining the black t-shirt he was wearing and it didn't take much to notice his tight fitting black jeans were enhancing the toned muscles of his legs. Long blond hair seemed to be tied up at the base of his neck as it all came over his shoulder, curving around on his chest, in one silky clump. Our hair colour was exactly the same now, so much so that even Eric could hardly tell the difference, or so he told me.

"Ready?" I asked, not bothering to try and warn him before speaking. On some level he would be aware of me, my presence was usually enough to snap him out of his rest anyway, and it was ridiculously difficult to surprise a vampire.

"Yes." He replied, springing up from the bed that was still impressive even after all this time. He grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair in the corner of the room and grasped my hand as we walked out to one of the cars. He easily climbed into the cabriolet we had without bothering to open the door, just offering a flash of a grin at me as I climbed into the passenger side the normal way. "How was work?" He asked and to the rest of the world we sounded like any normal couple. It had taken us two years to get to this stage and it hadn't been easy to compromise.

"It was good, everyone was really nice, no hassle." Being a waitress had become an awful lot easier since I'd mastered control of my telepathy, the vampire blood had helped with that but it had taken a lot of work. I'd been having a lot less hassle with the handsier patrons since they'd found out about my giant of a vampire boyfriend.

"When are you working tomorrow?" He asked and I could see the sparkling glint in his eye, the mischievous smile playing slightly across his lips.

"I'm not." I smiled back.

"Good." We'd eased onto the road by this point and he took my hand as he always did when we were driving, our fingers laced and our joint hands resting on top of the hand brake box. I still didn't know how he managed a manual transmission and steering with one hand.

The rest of the journey was spent in comfortable silence where I just relaxed back into the soft leather of the seat, just glad to be off of my feet and enjoying the mental silence around me. The gentle purring engine eased over me, making me sleepy but I couldn't surrender just yet. We soon pulled into the parking lot for the staff behind the grey building that was Fangtasia, the multiple signs lighting up the area in neon red. There was already a queue stretching around the building with people chatting animatedly as they waited in the cold evening air; the bar had only been open just over an hour.

I stepped out of the care as graciously as I could from the low seats and waited until Eric had finished showing off to take my arm. We were now officially on public show, as much as I'd hated it originally I'd begun to see the necessity for it and how much it helped keep the public face of the bar in the good press. Here was the big bag vampire owner with his human lover and she was perfectly well cared for. He'd jumped out of the car, using his uniquely good flying skills to land softly on the ground before walking quickly around to me. My hand immediately grasped the bend on his arm and we walked confidently to the front doors. It would have been easier to use the staff door, we were heading to his office anyway, but the public called. Some of them even literally.

"Eric! I'm yours!" One particularly loud mouthed fangbanger looking girl, barely legal to enter the bar, shouted out as we walked past. Her dark hair was pulled up on top of her head, revealing the neck that already had two sets of bite marks on it and the heavy make-up of her face that didn't do her any justice. She was wearing the typical Goth gear which everyone seemed to think the vampires wore on a day to day basis. Just so you know, they don't, at least not any that I've come across. Her arms were waving wildly around her and she would have run up to him if it weren't for the strong hold one of her friends had on her waist. A year ago that would have made me seethe but now I could only smile to myself, it was completely pointless. Eric was devoted to me, something which had shocked everyone at first, even himself, but our relationship was honest and we were bonded. He wasn't going anyway.

"I already have someone." Eric replied coolly, offering her a toothy smile though which sent lots of cameras flashing. They'd be lucky to keep those photos though; no one got a picture of us without permission. He held his arm out as he spoke as well, indicating my hand that connected us together; it was the hand that held my claddagh ring as well. The disappointment was clear on her face but we kept walking until we reached the front of the line.

"Hello you two," Pam greeted us with her typical bored tone. It took a long time to get to realise her emotions and how she showed them. "Any trouble about?" She was looking directly at me as she spoke and I barely blushed but shook my head. I had a bit of a penchant for getting myself into supernatural trouble, apparently the vampires all thought I was a hoot. Except the bartender, me and Fangtasia bar tenders tended to end up with a rocky relationship where one of us dies. I bet you can guess who that is as I'm still walking around and for the most part human.

"Are they here yet?" Eric inquired quietly so that no other ears would be able to hear what was being said.

"No, they should be here within half an hour though. I'll let you know personally as soon as they arrive." She gave a deep nod of her head, actually stooping her shoulders, we still caught the slight eye roll though, and we knew she was only doing such a show of formality because of the audience we had.

We walked straight into the bar then and we were immediately approached by a new waitress who was actually shaking with worry about serving us two. We ordered our regular drinks, I'd changed to diet coke with a slice of lime in it, a drop of water added in from an old vodka bottle gave the appearance that I was drinking even when I wasn't. I couldn't be drinking my normal tipple, a gin and tonic, every night when I came to the bar although I still had them occasionally, if I'd kept drinking them my liver would have packed in around now, I spent so much time here.

Wide eyed stares followed us as we walked through the crowded main room to the staff door which was directly opposite the main entrance. The heavy rock music was already pounding out of the stereo system; it appeared it was just a general night at the bar with nothing going on at all except for the usual vampire attraction. The room would be filled with new people or tourists talking a little walk on the controlled wild side, the regulars would wait until about now to start turning up as that was when the vampires did. Until an hour or so after opening the bar was just like any other rock playing bar in the city.

"After you," he whispered in my ear, giving the lobe a cheeky nip as I stepped in front of him. I continued walking down the long hallway, my soft footfalls sounding distinct on the wooden floor. There was no one else back here as all the staff had hit the bar ready for getting truly busy. I walked into the office which was situated near the end of the corridor; the only other things further back were storage rooms.

"Why do we have to meet with them? We already turned them down." I took a seat on the sofa, making sure my feet didn't touch the leather since I was wearing shoes.

"They are being stubborn, they won't take no for an answer. They're sending representatives over tonight to start negotiations although there's no point. I'm not giving up any of my business." Fangtasia was Eric's baby, I just wouldn't call it that in his presence, and he'd worked it up from scratch just after vampires had come out of the coffin a few years ago. He worked here, at some point, nearly every night, as he was a very hands on boss, he wouldn't be giving up his hard work for anything.

There was a tentative knock on the door which Eric answered, taking a tray from the waitress before closing the door behind him. He handed me my coke before taking his blood and sitting at his massive desk, readying himself for work.

"So why am I here? If it's about the bar." I didn't personally handle anything business related, except running a few day time errands for him, yet he'd started asking my opinion on things which really made me happy. He valued my thoughts.

"As a caution mainly, the witch has mentioned to some of the vampires around here that she is interested in me, I am not interested in her. With you by my side perhaps she can be convinced I'm not bothered." He shrugged his massive shoulders and used the same motion to pull the tie out of his hair to let it fall down his back.

"Err, I hate witches." I stated boldly, though it wasn't entirely true. One of my friends who lived down in New Orleans was a witch, a pretty powerful one at that, and I loved her to bits.

"My thoughts too. Let's take your mind off of it." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and I couldn't help but laugh. Of course I still went over to him though, taking a seat on his lap where I could feel his gracious plenty beginning to harden. He was truly insatiable.

"Not if we have a meeting." I stated, folding my arms across my chest mainly so that I could keep them to myself. I'd never reached this level in a relationship before, even though I'd had one, and I'd made myself promise to cherish every moment. I had my own Viking vampire who had a softer side that he really only showed me and we respected each other through our love.

One of his arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me into his side and I yielded, putting one of my arms across his shoulders and the back of his neck so that I could relax into him. My eyes flickered to the computer monitor that had sprung to life and I was surprised to find a picture of me staring back although no one else would have been able to tell. The image was a close up, only showing a section of skin with two red, still slightly seeping, vampire fang marks. It was a good job no one else would be able to tell who or what body part they were looking as Eric didn't like to take blood from my neck anymore. I slapped him softly on the chest as heat began to rise in my cheeks. My only response was a deep chuckle.

He began working away on the computer and I didn't pay any attention, only knowing that he was doing some form of ordering and stock check via the internet and excel. I just sat on his lap with my fingers winding through his hair, luxuriating in the coolness of his body against mine. All too soon there was another knock on the door which was followed quickly by the heavy oak door opening to reveal an amused Pam. She loved to catch us in compromising positions; this was one of the least ones she'd seen.

"They're here." She stated simply and walked into the room, partially shutting the door behind her to give us a couple of much needed seconds.

Large hands on my waist picked up and deposited me in a chair beside him that I hadn't noticed before. Accompanied by a quick kiss to the lips, which was as chaste as Eric ever got when it came to his lips on my body, and we were ready. Pam opened the door again to reveal two surprisingly normal looking people who whisked their way into the room, taking the two guest chairs opposite the desk before they were offered a seat. Pam raised her eyebrows ever so slightly at their audacity before locking the door and coming to stand over our shoulders.

"I am Eric Northman, this is my bonded Sookie Stackhouse and you've already met Pam." Eric was using his authoritative tone which usually sent little shivers down my spine, today it only served to remind me of the severity of the situation. I sat up straighter in my chair and began to let my mental shields slide down.

"I am Hallow Stonebrook, this is my third in command Samantha." Her second in command was her brother, Mark, who was currently leading an exercise of support for the meeting from across town in their headquarters. She was also a shifter of some kind, her mind was a murky pool and I couldn't keep track of one thought for very long. Surreptitiously I slipped my hand across to rest on Eric's knee, drawing support from him without being seen to be weak.

"You have come to offer us a deal?"

"Yes. I gave you my request almost a week ago but you turned it down immediately; fifty percent of your business in return for letting you keep running it and for the safe passage of your vampires to other areas. You didn't have time to contemplate it."

"I didn't need time, the bar is mine and I'm not giving it up. The vampires under my control have the right to live where they choose which is currently right here. Without vampires the bar is nothing, taking fifty percent and taking the vampires leaves me with nothing." His voice was taking on an icy edge that made me grateful I was securely on this side of the desk.

"Very well. I have come to offer you one last deal. We will take twenty percent of the bar; your vampires can remain here as long as you swear they will not get in our way. You will provide us with a set amount of blood every month, to do with as you please." She waved her hand to show that she wasn't directly meaning Eric's own blood, but any vampire blood in general. I saw in her head though that she wanted Eric's blood, wanted it desperately and she wanted to be the one to take it by sinking her teeth into his neck whether she was in animal or human form. "In return for the smaller percentage cut you are to come with me for a week, entertain me." Images flashed across her mind of the two of them in bed, various positions yet he was still tied up in all of them, in some there was even someone watching. That was vile and I couldn't help the jealousy that boiled up inside of me. Anger was building up in Eric, our two different emotions feeding off of each other to bring them closer to the surface. I could feel him in my head.

"No. I am bonded, I am not interested."

"You would do wise to consider Hallow's words, she is more of a woman than the one you have." Samantha spoke for the first time, spitting her words out. She did slink back in her chair when Eric's stony gaze turned to face her, turning his anger all onto the one person and making her squirm.

"I have my bonded."

"Are there no other vampires that you would consider taking?" Pam asked from beside her and I knew she was speaking out of loyalty, offering herself up without so many words.

"No, but that too maybe open to negotiation." Hallows deep brown eyes blazed briefly, almost matching the colour of her nearly black hair as she glanced at Pam, taking in all that she had to offer.

"I will consider your offer." Eric stated after a few seconds of watching the exchange and I had to struggle to keep m face neutral. My hand clamped down on his knee, my nails digging into the jeans and probably bruising the flesh underneath. Swiftly his hand covered mine, his thumb stroking soothing circles into the back of my hand and his fingers squeezing my hand reassuringly.

"I will give you three days, I will expect an answer before sunrise in three nights or there will be consequences." With that they both stood up and walked to the door, letting themselves out. Eric only had to glance at Pam to get her to follow them out of the bar.

"You're not really considering the offer are you?" I said as soon as the door had shut firmly behind them, drawing my hand back from his leg as I did so.

"Of course not, but it bought us time to sort the problem out. I doubt they have enough power to cause us serious problems, but we'll have to be careful."

"You won't be offering yourself up?" I was confident in our relationship but it was still a horrible thing to hear.

"No. I am yours Sookie, just as you are mine. Never doubt that." He took my hand back, holding it in his large ones, using my arm to pull me to him as well. He kissed me, his lips moving against mine slowly and tenderly but with passion that couldn't be rivalled. His fangs were already down and I could feel them, hard beneath his lips. His hands moved up my arms, moving slowly in a feather light touch that sent me shivering, until his hands came to rest on my shoulders, his thumbs now rubbing over my collar bones.

"I won't," I whispered against his lips.

"We have three days, we should start looking tomorrow. Pam and the rest have already been instructed to gather as much information on them as possible." I was once again sat on his lap, with my face buried into his neck, breathing in his unique scent.

"She's a shifter."

"What kind?" He knew me better than to be bothered asking how I knew.

"I'm not entirely sure, Were I think." A shifter was any kind of person that shifted into any animal at the full moon. A shapeshifter was a person, like my boss Sam, who could transform into any animal he desired, a shifter who transformed into a wolf was a Were, any other specific animal was known by were- then the animal.

"I'll let them know." He pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket; his fingers flew across the keypad as he undoubtedly sent Pam a message. "Everything will be getting sorted, I'll start helping out tomorrow. What shall we do now?" His eyes lacked the usual glint of mischievousness, he needed it back. I didn't want to think about this anymore, I'd just had a brief lapse of thinking he wasn't as devoted as I knew. I needed to make sure he was mine.

"Take me home, we have plans."

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**So what did you think? Lemme know please, you know I love reviews almost as much as a certain Viking vampire. Thanks for reading! You probably know this but i'm team Eric so don't worry too much  
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	2. Phone Call

**Hello!**

**How are you my wonderful readers? I'm very good and I've got another update for you! I saw a shirt on a young girl that stated 'Forget about prince charming I want a sparkling vampire in a shiny volvo' and I think part of me died. When did people give up on prince charming? I'm 18 and I'm definitely not naive but I still love the idea of Prince Charming and fairytales. Although strange aside, I've played Prince Charming twice in pantos of Cinderella, not to mention five other lead male roles. Anyway, Charlaine Harris owns the lovely Southern Vampire Mysteries.**

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"Lover," he whispered against my heated skin. His lips were constantly planting open mouthed kisses against my skin, alternating lavishing attention between my breasts, never lingering on either one. My hands were gripping his shoulders, fingernails biting into his skin that only caused him to growl.

"Eric," I moaned sounding completely desperate. I tugged on his shoulders, moving up to his long hair when it had no effect. "Eric!" I called out louder, begging him to listen to what I needed. His intense blue eyes stared up at me whilst he continued to suck my flesh into his mouth, grazing the skin with his fangs. I needed him in me and I couldn't decide which part of him I needed in me first.

"What is it lover?" He asked with a chuckle, the reverberations of which I could feel across my breasts. He kissed his way up my body, interspersing kisses with licks and nips that sent me arching into him. I could feel all of his naked body pressed up against me. My legs were already wrapped around his hips pulling him to me as much as my strength allowed. His hardened gracious plenty was providing glorious friction but it wasn't enough.

"I need you," I groaned out and sighed as his fangs nicked the flesh of the neck, letting some of the built up pressure go.

"What do you say?" He grinned at me, his faces only inches above mine and his eyes were clouded over with lust. It was taking all that he had to remain light hearted and not succumb to his own emotions. I could feel them swirling around in my head along with my own, only adding to what I was feeling.

"Please," I begged unashamedly, gripping his biceps as tight as I could to portray my need.

His mouth descended on mine as hungrily as ever and I could feel the sharpness of his fangs with my exploring tongue and I scraped the same cut as earlier, now healed over, again. Blood seeped from my tongue and I knew the instant it hit his taste buds. He pulled back, his hands roaming over my body with abandon as he worked his way down to my breasts again.

He bit down then, his fangs breaking the flesh that only served to heighten the pressure I was feeling inside. Blood flowed freely from around my nipple where his teeth had penetrated and he began to suck deeply on the bite, leaving his teeth buried in my flesh like he knew I liked. I moaned as my blood drained away, giving him life and my fingers gripped ever tighter, biting into his flesh. With one smooth movement he thrust into me and I was transported into bliss.

It was late morning when I awoke completely relaxed and in our bed, one of Eric's cool arms was wrapped around my waist possessively and holding me tight against him even in sleep. The duvet was tucked up underneath my chin and I was curled up into a slight ball to protect against the cool air that had come over the bedroom. I lay exactly where I was, luxuriating in not having to get up and rush to work. It was one of the few days where I wasn't working at all and the best part was it was Monday, which meant Fangtasia would be shut so Eric was pretty much free.

Memories flooded my mind of last and I giggled at the images floating around. He'd taken enough blood to sustain him the first time round and only a drop the second time round when I'd been on top of him. Both times the bite had been my undoing, afterwards I had seemingly no control over my body, my only goal to give both of us pleasure. My body hadn't led me wrong before so I saw no harm in giving over to the carnal side. I'd finally fallen into an exhausted sleep about an hour before dawn. Eric had been by my side then but I knew he sometimes got up to take care of some things before coming back to me when he was retiring for the day. I understood; it didn't mean much to me since I was asleep and he always came back.

About half an hour later, I regrettably had to get up and face the cold air around me as my bladder was calling loudly to be relieved. I stumbled out of the bed and headed for the en-suite bathroom where I also took my shower, taking the time to wash my hair and shave. It had been strange at first to get used to a bathroom and bedroom that didn't have any windows but it was only a minor irritation that I'd soon overcome. Eric needed the added protection as well, especially since he was so old that he arose quite early and he was actually strong enough to put off going to sleep in the morning if need be.

I walked into the closet so that I could grab some lounging clothes; slouch jeans, slipper socks and one of Eric's shirts, it still smelled deliciously of him. Breakfast was a quick affair of cereal and I quickly found myself slunk over the sofa with my head resting against the arm. I pressed the button on the answer machine and began to prepare myself for listening to the closing report from the bar. The process was only a few months old but so far it was working quite well; Pam or Chow would call just after closing up the bar with a report of how everything had gone since we'd left. It made processes a lot faster as I could start out on the problems, if there were any, during the day whilst otherwise they would have to wait until nightfall and a vampire rose up. It was particularly affective for things that had gone out of stock or a waitress that had quit.

"Pam." Pam didn't really understand the proper etiquette of phone calls and I'd never heard her utter a hello apart from when she was personally answering the bar's phone which she tried to avoid at all cost. I was lucky to even get this word of warning really. "The bar itself is alright, but please add another two crates of O positive to the order, we only have one left. The witches are Weres," at least I'd been right about that although the news wasn't comforting in the slightest. "They also appear to have a penchant for vampire blood. They have been contacting the local witches trying to rally support. The local Weres need to be alerted in case they don't know. We don't have much else on them at this time. See you this night." The message abruptly ended and there were no other messages to listen to.

It hadn't really been anything startling but it was still unnerving, putting my worst fears into action. A witch that was also a shifter, that I'd never heard of and powerful shifters could actually give newer vampires a bit of a problem if they were one of the larger animals. Of course, my Viking didn't have a problem with them but he was over a thousand years old. A were-witch that drank vampire blood. That I just didn't want to see.

There was one person I knew I could call for information on witches and their practices. It would need a phone call, probably a long one, and I was well overdue a chat but I could mix business with a bit of fun at least. I dialled the number for Amelia by heart and I only had to wait two rings before she picked up.

"Hello, you've reached Amelia at Broaden Your Horizons. How can I help?" Amelia had set up her own witch, Wiccan and supernatural store as soon as she was able to after Katrina. I'd met her when she'd come to Bon Temps after the first devastation, she'd actually stayed with me for a couple of months whilst her home was being renovated after the damage.

"Hey Amelia," I replied happily and I settled further down into the plush sofa, even pulling a fleecy quilt over my legs. "How are you?"

"Sookie! Long time no see girl, you should call more often." It was sadly the truth; she was usually the one to call me and although when she called we spoke for ages, I should uphold my side of things a lot more. "I'm good though, the store is growing by the day. What about you? Still shacked up?" Her words were a little harsh but her tone was light and I knew, without hearing her thoughts that she was only teasing.

"That's good, I'm happy for you. I'm doing well, although we might be in a spot of bother here actually. And yes, I'm still shacked up as you put it."

"Sex still as good? I don't believe in it, but I heard one of the other witches saying that there's nothing new in sex apart from someone new." She giggled at me and a blush crept across my cheeks even though I was completely alone. Well, Eric was in the other room but he didn't count as he was dead for all intents and purposes for at least another five hours. "But what's this about trouble?" She was decidedly more sombre now and I knew she had her straight, serious face on even if it was difficult for her bubbly personality to maintain.

"There's a coven of Witches in the area and they essentially want to take over, the bar at least, the area potentially."

"Well that aint good, how's Eric taking it?" Amelia was essentially the reason I'd ended up with Eric, although ended wasn't the right word, I was very happy with him. When she was living with me she'd convinced me to go to a club with her in Shreveport, I didn't know which one and we ended up in Fangtasia where I got into a spot of bother with a vampire who wanted to take a chunk out of my neck along with a couple of pints. Long story short; that isn't allowed at the bar, I wasn't consenting and Eric saved me. He thought I was amusing, I thought he was intriguing and we started dating if you could call it that. Just over two years later and here we are. Eric had spent a lot of time at my old house whilst Amelia was there so they'd gotten to know each other as well as Amelia had allowed.

"He's said no, of course but they're offering a deal. She wanted his bedroom services for a week in change for less percentage of the bar." She gasped audibly like any good listener would have before she cut me off from explaining further.  
"He didn't agree did he!" She sounded completely aghast.

"No, he turned her down. Pam sort of offered herself up but we're trying to avoid it if at all possible." Amelia and Pam had also had a bit of a fling; I'd gone to fangtasia a lot more when we'd first started dating and Amelia had accompanied me. Essentially Pam and Amelia were out wingmen who had ended up together when we did because they were always at our sides and we'd, me and Eric, had suddenly become preoccupied.

"That was good of her, so what's the offer at the minute?" I could just picture her in the little pokey staffroom at the shop, lounging with her feet over one arm of the arm chair she'd had installed there. Her staff would be getting grouchy any time now about her absence.

"I think it's twenty percent of the bar, blood donations every month from the vampires and Eric for a week." It made me sick to think of him with another woman even though I knew he wouldn't even consider it, no matter what he'd told the witches.

"That's just sick. I have a feeling you want my help on something though." She was too wise sometimes, although it was a strictly continuous thing and she had a problem with being a little careless when it came to her powers sometimes. There'd been an incident with a cat that wasn't really a cat.

"Yeah, I'm sorry to call like this but I do need your help." I was hoping my guilt was showing through in my voice. When this was over I'd have to take a trip down to New Orleans to see Amelia, I wondered if Eric would accompany me, he'd probably have to put a trip in with the Queen whilst we there. New Orleans was the stomping ground of Sophie-Anne, the vampire Queen of Louisiana and she took every opportunity possible to get the most of her underlings. I wasn't entirely sure why Eric put up with her; she was at least five hundred years younger which meant weaker in vampire terms.

"It's okay, what do you want?" She wasn't being impolite and she still sounded cheery.

"What do you know about Witches? Because we're coming up with a bit of a blank, you know how the vamps are." She was off and I was actually taking notes with the little pad I kept stashed underneath the phone charger.

"Most witches are Wiccans although not all Wiccans are witches. Wiccan is a religion that most witches happen to follow; it promotes energy and spiritual power which is why witches are drawn to it. There's many different level of witches though; some who dabble and use more herbs to treat illnesses and such, creating a bit of luck. Then you build up until you get witches that can cast spells for pretty much anything, sometimes creating their own with willpower and heartfelt words." That sounded like someone I knew.

"Are you one of the latter types?" I asked cautiously, not entirely sure how much of a personal question it was.

"Yes, well I'm getting there, I'm still not fully trained up yet but I'm working on it. Witches with a lot of innate power that aren't trained are the most dangerous, they aren't aware of their potential and accidents happen."

"Amelia, I thought you were over that now." The last I'd heard the poor guy that had been turned into a cat during some kinky stuff I just didn't want to know about had visited the shop to talk about what had happened.

"I am, I think, mostly at least. We're on talking terms; he's coming to understand everything. I don't think we'll ever be anything more than friendly acquaintances though."

"I'm sure everything will turn out for the best."

"Oh yeah, everything happens for a reason. So is there anything else?"

"Yes, have you ever heard of a witch being a shifter?" I heard the gasp over the over end of the phone which sent my stomach to churning as though bats were flying in there.

"No, I don't think that's ever happened before. I mean, I guess it's physically possible, shifters have a lot of energy in them but I always thought shifters were happy with well, shifting, to get there energy out."

"What would adding vampire blood do to the mix?"

"What!" Her exclamation wasn't a question; it was simply that, her expression of complete shock and disgust.

"Yeah, they're taking vampire blood, or at least the leader Hallow is."

"Sook, did you say Hallow? Hallow Stonebrook?"

"Yes, why?" This couldn't be good, if a witch from the other side of the state knew of her.

"Sookie, stay away from her, I don't care what you have to do just stay away, that goes for Eric too. He can't take her on." That was the scariest thing she could have told me that Eric couldn't have conquered her in a fight; Eric was an old warrior from his Viking days, he was the best fighter that I'd ever seen or heard of and I'm mixed in with vampires. He was old, powerful and strong, anything he couldn't take on I didn't ever want to come within a mile of and I'd been in the same room as Hallow.

"Why?" I whispered and the phone was gripped tightly in my hand, so much so that the plastic was beginning to creak slightly.

"She's bad news Sookie, she passed through New Orleans a little while back, she's powerful and evil, she doesn't care for people or animals, or any kind of supes except the people in her own coven. If she's a shifter that's taking vampire blood as well, you can't get involved in this. I don't know what you can do to come out on top, she takes whatever it is she wants and nothing gets in her way. If it does, it usually ends up disappearing." I had a feeling that murdered would have been a more apt description of what happened.

"Shit." I muttered with feeling as the brevity of our situation began to loom over me.

"Oh yeah, Sook. What's your plan?" She was scared; I could hear the slight quaking in her voice.

"I don't know, we have two and a bit days left to sort something else. I need to talk to Eric as soon as he gets up, talk everything through. I don't think he'll run though, it's not within him to give up."

"I know but I honestly don't know what else you can do. Damn it, I have to get back to the shop, they're getting angry that I've left them so long. Be careful, and keep me updated, I'll worry." Her words were coming out in a rush as she tried to get everything she wanted to say out whilst still getting back to the shop.

"I know, I will. I'll come and see you soon. Bye!" She replied with her own goodbyes and we both hung up. I was left alone in the house with a silence hanging over me which was making me itch with the need to do something. I had no one else I could talk to, not until sun down, as I wasn't close enough to anyone else within the supernatural world to talk to about this. I guess there was Jason but I could imagine the conversation now, _Hey Jason, quick word please? Well you know that vampire I'm shacking up with out of wedlock? Yeah, well we're in trouble. An evil witch wants to take over his businesses and she wants his bedroom skills for a week because he's that good. Oh, and she's also a vampire blood drinking werewolf._ That would go down brilliantly. Jason had only just come to turns with me living with Eric and only because he knew we were committed, he was definitely no saint himself and more than a little promiscuous but he didn't believe in couples living together when they weren't married. Too bad it was still illegal in Louisiana for a vampire and human couple to marry.

Once I'd put the phone back on the charger I got up and switched the computer on, loading up the order forms that were done over the internet. I added the required crates to the Bill and I was pleased to find there was actually an offer on the popular blood groups so I went ahead and added some more. When that was done I was left with the beginnings of boredom warning on the edges of my mind. If I wasn't careful I would end up thinking things over and there was no one to help calm me down.

With nothing else to do and not wanting to be out in public on my own, Amelia's warning had shaken me up quite a bit, I set to doing housework. Eric had a housemaid that was still on the work staff from when he lived alone in his other house so there really wasn't anything that needed doing but I had to do something. Cleaning sounded like a good idea as I could see my progress and it kept me active. Three hours later when I finally had to stop from exhaustion I'd been working so far, every surface in the kitchen was sparkling, the bathroom was the same, the living was tidied and dusted, every carpet even in the bedroom had been hovered and I'd even been into the garage to wipe down inside the cars.

I made myself a late lunch from the kitchen which was probably the biggest one to be found in a vampire house and ate in the comfort of the living room although I was careful to spill any crumbs. When I was finished I grabbed one of my books from on the coffee table and began to read, letting myself sink into the fantastical world of Elena in Bitten along with the other people within her pack. It was nice to read about problems that could actually be sorted out fairly easily.

"Lover," a deep voice whispered and cool air breathed over my face. Soft lips kissed mine slowly and lightly, lingering enough to get me responding before pulling away quickly. The tip of a nose nuzzled into me as he breathed deeply to take in my scent and I couldn't help sighing. "Sookie," he sighed just before he kissed me again. He was tender as our lips moved together, him sucking my bottom lip into his mouth to graze the skin with his teeth and I felt his fangs run down.

"Good evening," I mumbled against him, not pulling away enough to actually speak but I still felt the broad smile stretch across his lips when he realised the reaction he was causing in me. My heart was beating quickly inside my chest and my breaths were deep yet fast. My eyes finally flickered open and I found myself staring into his deep blue eyes from only a few inches away. His long blond hair was swept back from his face and it was dark, still wet from the shower. As my arms reached up to wrap around his neck to pull him to me again I also discovered he was still shirtless.

"How are you?" He asked before placing an open mouthed kiss on me, pulling away as soon as I started to kiss back.

"Hmmm. I'm tense," I giggled as he placed tiny kisses along my neck, barely letting his lips coming into contact with my sensitive flesh.

"Well, I could take care of that." He whispered and I felt him chuckling softly against me, before giving me a glorious nip that made me bunch up and moan.

"No, stop it. You are truly insatiable."

"Oh yes," he replied and his hands we getting in on the action, his right hand trailing little circles over my stomach with his fingertips and underneath my shirt which was actually his.

"I have news and we have problems, we don't have time." I pushed as hard as I could on his shoulders and it took all of my willpower to perform the action. Of course I only succeeded in getting him to move back because he respected me, even with vampire blood in me from our last bonding I wasn't that strong.

"I hate having problems." He grumbled as he kneeled back, giving me some rooms but still keeping his hand on my stomach so that we were connected.

"Yes, well I would prefer this too, but I need to tell you what I found out. You remember my friend Amelia?"

"Of course, I couldn't really forget her." His words weren't exactly the kindest but I could feel it in my head he meant it as a compliment to the uniqueness that was Amelia, there was also a slight smile playing across his lips.

"Well I called her up because she's a witch and I thought she might be able to give us some information." And I told him absolutely everything that I'd found out.

"Well I'm not giving up." It was the first words he'd said and it was exactly what I'd said to Amelia, he wouldn't give up.

"I know." I was still laid down on the sofa and Eric was now sat on the floor resting against the sofa base, his arm draped over my legs with his hand still resting on my bare stomach.

"We need to get to Fangtasia, Pam needs to know before she offers herself more formally. I can't let her do this for us. I'll find another way." Then my Viking stood up and pulled me with him, wrapping me possessively in his arms and pulling me tightly against his chest. "I'll find a way and keep us safe."

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**So what did you think? You know I love feedback almost as much as a certain Viking. Hmmm fantasies, do you think Eric would ever dress up as Prince Charming? You could put both things together with that. Hmmm...**


	3. Money Matters

**Hello, **

**How are you all? I'm very good; I've had a very fun couple of days. Yesterday I went on an all day trip with the girls at the nearest museum with its own grounds. When we finished we went down to the livery stables where one of them works and I was offered a job! Well, a work experience job but it's better than nothing and I really need it. The bright side is I get to ride the horses that are on full livery to help out too! That's why I didn't update yesterday, I was down at the stables until late lol. Oh, and I think I got through an entire chapter in one of my stories without mentioning a specific car! Wooo! Can you tell I have a major thing for cars? Anywho, Charlaine Harris owns the wonderful Southern Vampire Mysteries. **

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It was only when we were in the car, heading to Fangtasia that I realised it was Monday and that the bar would be shut. It seemed a very long time ago since I was idling in bed, thankful that it was Monday, it also didn't seem likely that me and Eric were going to get a lazy evening together.

"Will Pam be at the bar with it being Monday?" I asked quietly, hoping to not offend his intelligence which I really wasn't questioning.

"Yes, she goes over for one hour at first dark to give instruction to the other vampires, sometimes it's Chow." His hand was gripping mine, our fingers laced, like we always did when driving but I couldn't help but notice that he was gripping me just a little bit tighter than normal. In any other situation that would have made me smile; he was using me to keep him grounded and it was nice to feel needed like I needed him.

"Oh, I should have known that." I'd been at Fangtasia on many a Monday evening but I'd never noticed the routine, just that either Pam or Chow was there for a little while.

"It's of no consequence." We pulled into the parking lot, using one of our designated bays because I got one now days and we walked to the staff entrance. We were still holding hands and he'd opened my door even though there was no public, he always treated me like a lady. "Pam!" He bellowed as soon as the heavy, noise cancelling door had shut behind us and I cringed back slightly at the noise. He was already striding off down the hallway towards his office so I just followed along behind, mentally preparing myself for what could lay ahead of me.

The door hadn't even shut behind me when Pam walked in looking as lovely as ever. She was dressed as she wanted tonight in a very sweet appearing cream pair of linen trousers with matching pumps and a pastel pink cashmere sweater on top. It actually made her look a little less pale, more human but I wouldn't ever tell her that. I took my seat on the sofa, curling up on the arm and getting comfortable.

"What is it?" Pam asked, giving Eric a deep head nod before she spoke. "You had the night off."

"Sookie has learnt some interesting things about the witch coven."

"Your little friend Amelia?" She turned to look at me and I nodded in reply, I also couldn't help noticing the little gleam in her eyes as she thought of Amelia. "I should have thought of that. What have we learnt?" She sat down comfortably in one of the guest chairs having pulled it to the side so that she could see both of us. Perhaps I should move to make it easier, but at least the sofa offered me a little comfort and I couldn't really sit on Eric's lap.

"Blood drinking were-witch, about sums it up." I clarified even though that was what had been suspected last night.

"They are werewolves from what we can gather; it seems to feed their power. They don't belong to the Wiccan religion; those witches are forces for good apparently. She's been through New Orleans not so long ago trying to get the witch covens down there to join her, she has all the witches terrified and there's some strong people down there." Eric explained a little further.

"What was Amelia's response to her?" Amelia was the strongest witch we knew, not that we knew a lot, but it was still a testament to her power.

"She basically told us to high tail it out of here and not to cross them. People who do tend to go missing in the direction of being killed."

"Oh," Pam replied and a genuinely surprised expression fleetingly crossed her face.

"You are not offering yourself up in my place Pam, as your maker I forbid it. No one is going to the witches and I'm not going to lose my bar." Pam had a share of the bar but I thought it was best not to bring that little fact up right now, it appeared Pam was thinking the same thing too. "There has to be something we can do." He stood up abruptly, toppling the chair over behind him and running both hands through his long hair.

"Have we notified the Were group?" My eyes grew large as she brought that up, I had the really bad feeling that had been in the message she'd left for me last night, I'd completely forgotten after calling Amelia.

"No." I whispered even though they'd hear me plain as day anyway.

"Then we need to call them, Sookie?" Just like every other man I knew he didn't particularly like speaking on the phone although he did call me on a regular basis, I appeared to be the exception that proved the rule though. Like most people, he seemed to prefer texting.

"Sure," I said whilst offering my hand out for a phone to use, mine was in my bag which I had a feeling I'd left in the car. Eric tossed his phone over to me, making it land perfectly in my outstretched hand without me having to move an inch. I brought the phone to life, vampire's couldn't use most touch screen models due to being the same temperature as their environment, so he just had a fancy blackberry even though he continued to enviously eye the new touch screens. I quickly found Alcide's number, and pressed dial.

"Hello?" Alcide greeted, sounding very cautious indeed. Well I would be too if a vampire I knew for a fact didn't like shifters was suddenly calling one.

"Hey Alcide, it's Sookie." I said brightly and I heard him huff out the breath as he relaxed a bit.

"How are you chere? I haven't heard from you in awhile." About the same time I'd found out he had quite a thing for me and since I can also be around shifters quite comfortably Eric had become a little worried. It had been my decision though not to meet with the Weres whenever anything needed discussing, Eric would never ban me like that, but it also took me away from any form of temptation, not that I'd ever cheat.

"I'm okay thanks, you?" I replied, letting the pleasantries at least be spoken before I potentially dropped a bit of a bombshell on his head.

"I'm real good, I've been moved up in the pack ranking as well." Colonel Flood was the pack master and he already had a strong second, so I assumed it must have been to third.

"That's good." I was genuinely pleased for him and I hoped it showed through in my voice. I took a deep breath preparing myself for what I had to say; saying it out loud made it seem even more real and scary.

"What's wrong?" Damn shifter hearing, he'd heard the change in my breathing.

"I have some news, we've got a problem that's affecting the supe community round here, I don't know if you know."

"Everything's fine from this end." His voice was back to being wary, he knew I wouldn't lie or exaggerate something like this.

"We have witch problems, they're interested in the bar and Eric himself actually." That still strung a little even though I knew it wasn't up for negotiation. "The witch leading the invading coven is called Hallow Stonebrook, she's also a Were and she drinks vampire blood." I spoke fast, letting it all come out in one breath.

"Shit." He said emphatically. "Sorry." He added quickly when he came back up to Earth. "What's the situation?" So I filled him in with all that we knew and everything we were surmising, there was no point arguing over keeping vampire things private, they had a right to know and frankly, we needed help. "I'll let you know if anyone gets approached, you'd think we'd know if foreign wolves were running around the city though. I have to let Flood know, thanks Sookie. I'll be in touch." With that he hung up rushing so much that he didn't even offer me a goodbye.

"Verdict?" Eric asked as he walked around the front of his desk, he'd been pacing behind it continuously whilst I was on the phone, and picked up his phone from the arm of the sofa before putting it into his pocket.

"They didn't know anything, they haven't heard of any new Were's in town and they haven't been approached as far as we know." I shrugged my shoulders as there was nothing else I could offer him. His hand grazed past my arm, his fingertips barely touching the skin, as he moved away to pace once again behind his desk.

"Right. Pam you need to get all the vampires in the area ready and prepared for an attack, they all need to be within five minutes of the bar at the most for the next few nights. Call in any favours you have with any of the local witches, there has to be some. Find out what you can about this coven, any weaknesses at all they have. Anything that could help us getting them out of here, we will have to pay them off I think." Pam nodded her head deeply and left the room quickly to carry out her duties without complaint. "Sookie, I'm not letting you leave my side while this is happening?" I quirked an eyebrow at that.

"I have to work tomorrow night and I'm not taking another night off."

"Okay, I'll drop you off and pick you up." He offered a weak smile at me and I noticed his fangs were run down from anger. "We need to see how much we can afford to pay them off, I imagine it's substantial." He was saying 'we' even though the majority of our money came from Eric, I still had my waitressing job that gave me my leisure money, but the bar was the biggest source of income. To even things out I helped out with bar things and I used my telepathy whenever it was needed.

"Shall we do that here or at home?" With vampires you didn't have a trip to the accountant; it was a well placed phone call or two.

"Home, they probably have eyes and ears on the bar." As he spoke his eyes were roaming his office, glaring at every surface.

"Okay." He took a deep sniff and continued his searching around but he apparently didn't find anything.

"I think my office is clear though I don't want to risk it. Come on." He stepped toward me, offering his hand out which I gladly took and I was by his side immediately. His arm slid around my shoulder, pulling me in protectively to his side and we walked out of the office without looking back. We didn't bother calling out to Pam and later Eric mentioned that she'd left in order to call in on someone who was in her debt, so we just strode out to the car and high tailed it home.

"Do you want a blood?" I asked as we walked into the house and I continued toward the kitchen. Eric was actually looking a little dishevelled behind me; he was dressed in his relaxed clothing, his hair was a bit of a mess and there was just a set to his face that said he was tired.

"Yes, I'll be in the study." He replied offering me a smile as way as thanks. I wandered into the kitchen and popped his blood in the microwave while I set about making myself a decaf coffee; I had a feeling I'd be awake for quite awhile long but in case I was wrong I didn't want a lot of caffeine coursing through my veins. Not long after I was padding down to the study and I couldn't help but smile at one of my favourite rooms of the house.

The study was in the back corner of the house behind the double garage that only one of the cars, the others were in the separate garage at the back of the house. The study was huge and would probably have encompassed two rooms in a normal house but I was used to our odd layout with varying sized rooms now. Three walls had floor to ceiling bookcases and all but a few rows were full of books, the others held DVDs and a couple of rows that I hadn't yet filled just had a few ornaments taking up the space. The wall that didn't have bookcases had a panoramic window that was glorious in the sunshine and right now offered a view of downtown Shreveport that as still lit up with twinkling stars. The bright moon was thankfully getting smaller as the full moon had just passed. The large desk that was situated near the window held everything and probably more than you could ever need for an office including the computer that was currently whirring with life. The rest of the space was taken up by comfortable arm chairs, a sofa, low coffee table that held the few magazine subscriptions we had and a couple of cabinets for storage.

Eric was sat in the plush leather office chair stooped over the desk as he poured over papers and whatever was loaded up on the monitor. I placed our drinks down on some coasters on the desk, not wanting to mar the beautiful oak wood. "What are you doing?" I shuffled around behind him to rest my hands on his broad shoulders to feel the tension in the muscles.

"Checking over what investments I actually have and which ones I can get to in short notice. Thank-you." His left hand reached behind him, placing over mine which he squeezed tightly whilst never taking his eyes off of the papers. I really couldn't be much help in this situation; I didn't know all too much about investments and I didn't know if it was exactly my place since none of it was my money.

"Do you want me to stay?" I began to knead his shoulders gently, willing the tension I felt there away with his hand still over one of mine. At my words his hand tightened, anchoring me in place behind him as though I was a lifeline.

"Of course." He replied easily and he lent back in his chair so that he could tilt his head back fully to look up at me. A smile stretched across his face, his fangs were retracted now, and his other hand reached up to grab mine. In a fluid movement he pulled gently on my hands pulling them down from his shoulders and across his chest so that I lowered. As soon as I was close enough his lips were on mine, moving incessantly but tenderly with mine. I relaxed downwards, opening my mouth so that our tongues could explore each other whilst my hands began to grip his shirt. "Later." He promised me as he pulled back slightly so he could speak properly. My eyes were still closed lightly as he leaned in once again to place an open mouth kiss on my lips, pressing in hard enough for me to feel his fangs that were now extended for an entirely different reason.

I stayed stood behind for a couple more minutes, massaging his shoulders and the back of his head, then decided that I might as well pull up a chair to get comfortable. I picked up my favourite arm chair, only being able to do so due to the vampire blood and began to walk back across the room.

"Are you okay with that?" He asked giving me his full attention as he stared at me from his desk, probably judging if I seemed to be coping.

"I'm fine, still got a lot of extras from bonding." It had only occurred two weeks ago, it had been a glorious night as most of our nights were, and I was still feeling the effects of his blood in my veins which would probably last another week before beginning to fade. He smiled at me, his eyes flashing as he too remembered that night. It was one of his favourite things me taking blood straight from his body.

Once the chair was in place I grabbed a book from the shelf that held my favourites along with my coffee and curled up to read with the blanket of my grandmother's that had accompanied my with the move much to Eric's chagrin. I was sucked into the world of the book and I was able to mostly forget what was going on around me although I kept glancing at Eric who still appeared to be working. I could feel in my head that although the little diversion had eased his mind the tension was returning the more he worked. I could also feel him tapping into our mental connection for support even though I doubt he would verbally ask for an anchor to remaining calm.

"Hello, it's Eric Northman." I looked up at the sound of his deep voice breaking the relative silence of the room and I found him speaking into a mobile phone that I hadn't seen before. "Yes, that's right. Thank-you." I highly doubted he was talking to his accountant with the tone of voice he was using, it was much too relaxed belying the tension I could see he held his body with and if I wasn't mistaken he'd taken on a bit of a flirty undertone. I rolled my eyes, which he caught, and turned back to my book.

Eric was a complete flirt and he could pretty much get whatever he wanted from any woman if he tried. He never promised anything though and he had absolutely no intention of following through with anything so it was fine with me; taking away his flirtatious nature would be taking away a large part of his personality. Hell, he still flirted with me and I would certainly miss his cheeky smile if it disappeared. The only exception with me is that he followed through on pretty much everything he joked about; the thing that changed was who acted on the impulse first.

"Thank-you, yes transfer all of that across to my current account and I will be in touch if I need anything else. That's all for now." He pulled the phone from his ear, switched it off and immediately crumpled it up using only one hand, crushing it as though it were a tin can. That was a habit I'd seen Jason doing a lot when he was trying to show his muscles off to a new woman.

"Finished it all up?" I inquired. I got up and placed the book back on the shelf, popped the blanket neatly on the back of the chair before closing the short gap between us to talk to him. He looked decidedly more composed; his hair had been tied back in a pony tail at the base of his neck and he didn't look tired, more determined.

"Yes, I think so." He nodded his head after a couple of seconds as though he'd been contemplating his plan and had determined it was good.

"What are we doing?"

"I'm calling a meeting with the witches tomorrow; hopefully it won't be Hallow as we can probably intimidate a lesser witch much better. I'll make them an offer, lower than what I anticipate and take it from there. I think you should still go to work; you may actually be safer there. You definitely won't be in the firing line. Trust me, I want you there for my own sake but that shouldn't make my decision." He swung the chair round slowly to face me and patted his lap, offering me a hug. I sat down carefully on his lap, placing my arms around him and my legs over the arm of the chair as I got comfortable snuggling against him. His arms wrapped around me, holding me tight to his chest as he continued without me asking for details. "I'm going to start out at one hundred grand, but I can actually go up to about three quarters of a million." He said as though it was no big deal where as I was having a little freak out about the amount of money he could afford to give away with too much detriment.

"What?" I whispered probably a little too dramatically.

"Most of it's from investments I started out a long time ago in England, it's been passed down through the generations as such and has accumulated dramatically over the years. The exchange rate is in our favour, especially with such a large amount, so it's quite alright really." It seemed strange that I'd never asked about our finances before, I just knew we could live very comfortably without having to worry. He'd paid the mortgage off on my grandmother's house so that I wouldn't have to give it up when we got this house together. My old home was currently being rented out to my friend Tara; the rent was going to Eric since he'd paid for the house. Of course I knew about some investments and businesses he had a share in, and I knew we lived in a massive house with several cars that had a big turnover but it was still surprising to hear actual figures.

"Oh." He chuckled and I could feel the vibrations of it in his chest which my head was resting; it was a good feeling.

"You've never asked before, so I didn't think I should tell you everything in case you didn't want to know. You can ask me anything you know, I'll tell you. What's mine is yours Sookie, just like you are mine and I am yours." I stared up into his eyes, blue looking into blue, and I smiled at him, letting my happiness at his words be seen in my eyes. We stared intently at each other for a few seconds, completely absorbed in one another and I felt safe wrapped in his arms, completely content. I only broke the eye contact when I closed my eyes lightly to kiss him deeply.

My hands snuck up to the back of his neck where I pulled the small band out of his hair, dropping it on the floor so I could run my fingers through the long, blond locks. I moaned as I relaxed against him completely, leaning over so that my front was essentially pressed against his chest. "It's later." I whispered against his lips, letting my breath tickle against his cool skin. My response was a growl followed swiftly by his large hands roaming over my body and finally coming to rest on my waist so that he could pick me up. I found myself straddling his legs, so close that I could feel the erection already straining against his jeans.

I ground against him, creating friction that we both wanted and we grabbed onto each other as though we couldn't get close enough. We craved the contact and our kissing became more passionate. My arms were now wrapped around his neck with my fingers grasping his hair and pulling on it making a constant growl come from his chest. Moans were emanating from my throat in response. His hands travelled further down, never leaving my body until he was caressing my bottom.

He stood up then, holding my weight with his arms whilst I wrapped my legs low around his waist, gripping him tightly so that I was flush against him from groin to chest. He began to walk out of the room but I didn't care, I didn't bother to open my arms, I trusted him more than enough for this. We continued to kiss as he walked, only one hand underneath me now. His other hand roamed my body, raising goose bumps everywhere he touched with his cool fingertips. His hand snuck under my shirt, unhooking my bra easily before feeling the toned muscles in my back flex with my movements.

I heard a door shut behind us but paid it no heed until I was placed down gently on something cold which made me shrink back trying to get away from it. His lips left mine, trailing open mouthed kisses along my jaw and down my neck where he focused on the sensitive skin where my neck met my shoulders. My eyes flashed open and I took in the black and white tiles of our en-suite bathroom. I was perched on the edge of the vanity counter and I smiled when I saw the hot tub bath was now switched on. I couldn't complete a coherent thought then because he nipped at my flesh, letting me feel his fangs digging in.

I threw my head back and moaned loudly, my hands forcing his head to remain next to my skin which he happily kept nibbling. He was wearing too many clothes though. I suddenly pulled him back his hair which revealed darkened eyes which held a hungry look I was sure was reflected back in my own. Without needing to be told he stretched his arms up into the air. I thanked him with a grin whilst my hands got busy tugging on his shirt to reveal the delicious muscles of his stomach then chest. I latched my mouth onto one of his nipples, sucking deeply and biting down slightly with my teeth. He pulled his shirt off the rest of the way, letting it fall to the floor and all the while my hands were busy unbuttoning and pushing down his jeans.

Then his hands were on me, tugging off my clothes and actually ripping my pants off. I was in his arms again the next instant, latched onto his body higher than before so his mouth could kiss my chest, licking with the tip of his tongue each breasts. His mouth moved, sucking deeply on my nipple and I writhed in his arms at the sensation that was overpowering me. His fangs scratched the skin and I was hyper aware of the beads of blood rushing to the skin at the release of pressure even though another pressure was already beginning to build deep inside my stomach.

There was no jostle as we stepped into the water, the only indication was the hot water at my feet and reaching up my body as Eric sat down until the water was up to his chest. Our hair floated around us on the surface of the water. I leant back, pulling me down with me and his mouth never left my breasts as he devoted all of his attention to me. Vampires didn't have to breathe except when they were talking and I wasn't too bothered about his words at the minutes. His head was fully submerged as I lounged back down, my back resting against the seat whilst he knelt down between my legs to lavish me with more attention.

I couldn't take it anymore, I needed him. "Please." I begged tugging on his hair. He rose out of the water and I kissed beads of water from his skin and as he moved up my body he thrust forward, instantly filling me. I didn't need me to beg again; only a few hard thrusts later he bit down into my skin, sinking his teeth into the tender flesh just above my collar bone. "Eric," I moaned loudly as he sent me into bliss, following me not long after.

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**So what did you think? You know I love reviews almost as much as a certain Viking vampire. Thanks for reading guys. *hugs***


	4. Lost

**Hey guys, **

**I'm sorry for leaving it a few days, I was supposed to update yesterday but I got halfway through this last night and realised I couldn't leave it hanging half way through I had to finish it. I hope you agree with my decision. I spent all of yesterday afternoon at the stables and it was absolutely fantastic, all the time hands on experience with horses and I got to ride! I finally got to watch Sunday's episode of True Blood (damn only have freeview TV in England), and it was a little weird. AB is definitely diverting a lot from the books, I hope he gets back on track soon, but as a standalone it's still damn good. I do wonder what Eric found out about Sookie. Anywho, Charlaine Harris owns the wonderful Southern Vampire Mysteries. **

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Early the next evening, before the sun had set, I began doing the sometimes laborious task of waking him up like he'd requested last night. I was quite proud of that fact that I'd actually remembered it, he'd only whispered it into my ear when I was already half asleep. I was already dressed for work, still wearing the winter uniform, and I was ready to go as soon as it was safe for Eric to go outside.

I walked through our bedroom door making sure I didn't open it wide so that there was no chance of sunlight hitting him, although any light in the hallway would be indirect anyway. The hallway had no windows of its own for safety and practical reasons; I could still easily get about during the day without worrying about my vampire. I shut the door behind me, glad that I'd left the bedside lamp on this morning when I got up as it provided the only illumination in the room.

With a smile on my face at his sleeping form I crawled onto the bed. He wasn't covered by the sheets and he was gorgeously naked. His face was smashed into the pillow with one arm underneath to add a little more plumpness and his expression was one of complete relaxation that hardly ever graced his handsome face. I laid one hand on his cheek, feeling his cool flesh beneath my fingers. With his expression already committed to memory I moved my hand down to his shoulder and began to shake him roughly, digging my fingertips into his flesh to try and get his attention.

"Eric, you have to get up!" Nothing, absolutely no sign of life. It was early to wake up, even for him but still. "Eric, come on you big hunk of vampire, get your lazy ass out of this bed!" I'd discovered quite early on in our relationship that I could yell at his sleeping form and he wouldn't hear, or at least not process anything that I said, it was quite therapeutic, especially when he'd been ticking me off with something. With one last giant heave on his shoulder that probably would have done severe ligament damage to a human I had to admit that this wasn't working. So I tried the fairytale version.

I leant down and placed my lips on his, pressing down hard to try and get a response. I moved against him forcefully and began to tease his bottom lip, pulling it between my teeth so that I could bite. I nibbled on his lip and I smiled around him when I felt more than heard his growl. I bit down harder, my teeth breaking through the skin slightly and his blood began to seep out of the tiny wound. I sucked on it, taking it into my body and then he was kissing me. His tongue darted into my mouth immediately, tasting his own blood in my mouth. When his hands began to roam over my torso I knew it was time to stop or I'd never get to work. I drew back quickly, pulling on his lip until it slipped between my teeth.

"Well hello sleeping beauty," I grinned as I sat back kneeling on the bed so that I was safely far enough away from him, and to keep myself from too much temptation. He scowled but at least his eyes were open enough to form the expression and he was clearly wide awake if the tension in his body was any indication.

"You're lucky I love you for that." He grumbled before shoving a hand into his long hair to sweep it all back off of his face, making the muscles in his arm bunch deliciously. We didn't have time. "I should say thanks for getting me up, but I can't. This is too early, even for me." I stood up from the bed to give him some grouchy time alone.

"I'll get you a blood, go shower Mr Grumpy." I laughed over my shoulder as I reached the door. His only response was to throw a pillow at me although he aimed a good couple of feet to my left, above my head. I only giggled at him and walked out of the room.

By the time he was out of the shower twenty minutes later, he was awake but he would be sluggish until it came to the time he would normally get up, there was a heated up bottle of blood waiting for him and I was sat at the kitchen table reading the paper. The paper helped give me a bit of perspective due to all of the other problems going off in the world but I couldn't help but think ours were a little bit more immediate than some of them. Eric slowly padded into the kitchen then, bottle of blood in his hand, with his eyes roaming to the window to make sure the blinds were closed which they were. He was dressed in his standard black jeans and t-shirt that he wore whenever he was going to be in public though he hadn't yet put any socks on and his hair was still wet, though brushed.

"Hello lover," he stated as he walked over to me, placing a gentle kiss on top of my head before going to the fridge to get another blood. He was definitely more awake now and after a glance at the clock I realised it was because he would normally waking up about now so he should be wide awake. Half an hour after that, we'd done some double checking on the computer of our findings to pass the extra time, we were pulling out of the garage in the R8 which was actually my favourite and his of the cars we owned.

"What time are you due to meet the witches?" Instead of lacing our fingers like usual we were playing almost, tracing little circles and patterns on the other's hand.

"Not until eight, I've got plenty of time. What time will you be back at the house? Are you closing tonight?" His eyes flickered over to me to make brief eye contact. Anyone else would say he was completely relaxed but I could see the differences; a muscle in his jaw kept twitching ever so slightly, the vein down the centre of his forehead was standing out slightly and he had a tight grip on the steering wheel.

"Yeah, I'm due to close. I'll probably get out about midnight since it's only a Tuesday so I can either go back to the house or meet you at the bar."

"Meet me at the house, I'm going to get out of the bar as soon as I'm done with witches, I'll call you then as well. You'll be no later than one then."

"No, I shouldn't think so why?" He'd never really paid this much attention to what time I was getting off of work, he understood what it was like working at a bar; you may be due to finish at one time but patrons might have a completely different idea.

"I feel like I need to be close to you, I don't like this situation. I think we should bond again." I smiled at him, gave his hand a squeeze and gave an appreciative mumble.

We past the rest of the journey in comfortable silence and I spent it thinking over the possibility of bonding with him again. We usually spent the entire night together making it special and only about us two. The blood swapping was only a small part of what we did during our bonding; it was an experience of getting to know each other both physically and mentally. I was still reeling internally from our last bonding which was only a few weeks ago and I still had a lot of extra powers as well.

"Lover," Eric stated as we pulled into the parking lot at Merlotte's and he brought me out of my thoughts as he squeezed my hand tight as well. "Are you okay?" As soon as he put the car into park he turned around in his seat to stare at me and there was nothing but concern written across his face.

"Yes, I'm fine." I smiled at him. "I was just thinking about bonding again. I'm going to forget the fact that you didn't ask me sweetly like every time because I think it's a good idea too at this time and honestly, I love being close to you. Yes I'll bond with you Eric." A smile crossed across his face and a growl emanated from his chest as he leaned across to give me a long, tender kiss.

"Lover," he stated as he pulled back, resting his forehead against mine so he could stare into my eyes from only an inch away. It was all I could see, his eyes were taking up my entire world. "I love you." He whispered before giving me another kiss which I desperately returned.

"I love you too." I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and squeezed him hard as he reciprocated, hugging me around my waist. We slowly pulled apart and I quickly got out of the car, knowing that if I didn't I wouldn't ever get into work. "Wait, what about the car? How am I going to drive home?" I turned as I began speaking to look at him through the passenger side window but found only an empty seat. I stood up to turn back around and came face to chest with him. "Oh." I gazed upwards and found his highly amused expression, complete with toothy grin.

"I'm leaving the car for here for you." He popped the keys complete with Fangtasia key ring into my bag, straight into the section that I had specifically for frequently used items. "I'm going to fly back, it might be quicker actually." I nodded at his suggestion, he really was good enough at flying for that and if he could fly straight he probably would get to the bar faster than in a standard car at least. The thing is we didn't own something that you could really class as standard.

"I'll see you later." I stood up on tip toe to place a quick kiss on his cheek.

"See you at home." Then he was gone, speeding into the air faster than the human eye could follow. I sighed at not being able to be with him on such an important night and I walked into work.

Two hours into my shift I began to worry about Eric; he would have been in with the witches for at least an hour, surmising they were on time and I knew he wouldn't have been having a good time. What had spurned me to thinking had been the tweak of tension that I could feel through my mental connection to him. He'd been blocking me off since he'd left the bar and it was a double edged blade. I wanted desperately to know what was going off with Eric in the meeting but I know that if I did I wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything else and I would only want to be beside him even more.

"Hey Sook, you okay?" Sam asked when I nipped over to the bar to get a couple of drinks for one of my tables. His ruddy face was staring at me intently as though he was seeing through the happy face I was putting on; considering how intuitive he was and how long he'd known me I shouldn't have really been surprised.

"Yeah, tough night that's all. Have you been in touch with the Shreveport pack?" I asked, making sure I didn't say anything that would raise alarm to anyone that was ear wigging.

"Yes, I got a warning this morning, how's it going with your end of things?" He was full of concern which really warmed my heart but it wasn't enough to distract me completely.

"Eric's in a meeting now. He's supposed to be calling me when it's over." I shrugged at him showing that I really didn't know anything else and took my drinks over to the table.

"Fuck." I cried quietly but with a lot of emotion. Luckily I was on my way out of the restroom at the time so there were no patrons, there wasn't anyone actually, around to hear me. There was a sharp tugging in my head in the part of my mind that was connected deeply to Eric. A shock of pain rippled through my head before disappearing as quickly as it had come but it left me clutching my head fiercely. I tested our connection desperately, wondering what the hell had gone wrong with Eric but there was no problem, I could barely feel him. It was the same as what I'd had all evening just the barest sensation that he was out there somewhere and not all that far away.

"Order up!" And so the busy section of my shift started, rushing me off of my feet and leaving me no time to contemplate what the hell was going off over in Shreveport.

The next time that I got over to the bar was quite awhile later; people were only just beginning to wind down and go out of the door. I glanced at my phone to check the time and found that it was nearly eleven o clock which wasn't good at all. No meeting would take three hours, even with severe negotiations. "Shit." I uttered under my breath, unfortunately for me Sam was within his hearing distance.

"What's up?" He was only dusting down the bar and he made his way over to stand beside me.

"Eric was meeting them at eight, it's now eleven, it shouldn't have taken this long!" I stormed away from the bar then to clear away a table that had just been vacated. I was just about finished, walking back to the recycling cans with the empties when my phone began to vibrate in my pocket. I scanned the bar area and found there was no one there who would bother to complain, I don't think it would have stopped me from answering it anyway, I slipped my phone from my pocket and accepted the call.

"Hello."

"Sookie, it's Pam." She started and I immediately knew this couldn't be good, Eric would call me himself if at all possible.

"What's wrong?" I whispered, not able to talk any louder.

"The meeting didn't go very well. Have you seen Eric?" Well that wasn't a question I was expecting. Loud clinking of glass sank into my conscious and I realised that my hand was shaking so badly that the glass bottles I was holding were knocking together.

"No, I haven't heard from him either and he said he'd call as soon as the meeting finished. What's going on?"

"We can't find Eric."

"What do you mean you can't find him? He's a bit hard to lose; giant Viking vampire if you haven't noticed."

"We were in negotiations with the witch that turned up; she must have felt threatened because Eric just disappeared. One minute he was sitting in his desk chair and the next he just wasn't there. No one's heard from him or seen him since." I dropped the glasses but I was only aware of it due to the loud clattering as shards went everywhere; I couldn't bring myself to care.

"Pam, what happened?" I said slowly, clearly enunciating every syllable. I knew that Sam had come over to investigate and I was sure that several heads were turned in my direction from the tables but I paid them no heed, I focused entirely on the phone in my hand.

"Exactly that. We can't find him; we got rid of the witch safely, we searched the bar, his decoy house, we called him on every number we could think of, we called your house, but there's just nothing."

"When did this happen?"

"Just after nine o clock."

"You're only just telling me this now!" I was almost screaming at the phone. I walked out of the bar and into the office, starting to get my bag and coat together.

"Yes, most of the other vampires don't even agree with me telling you now but Sookie if anyone can find him it's you. You need to check your home; we don't know where it is."

"Fine. Keep me updated, I'll be at the house in about half an hour." I snapped the phone shut and swung my coat on as I walked jogged towards the staff exit but Sam was standing in my way.

"What's happened?"

"Eric's gone missing, it's related to Hallow, it happened a few hours ago and no one's heard from him. Apparently he was literally transported from the room, just sat there and then poof." I moved my hands in the image of an explosion, signifying the smoke that I was imagining in my head. "I need to go help." My voice lost its confidence then and I felt the first tell tale tears beginning to creep into my eyes.

"Of course chere, you go find him, just be careful!" He shouted the last as I'd snuck past him as soon as he'd said the two words. The car was open just as quickly and I quite literally jumped into the driver's seat and high tailed it out of the parking lot with squealing tyres whilst still putting my seat belt on.

"Calm down, you'll find him." I chanted to myself as I sped along the familiar roads to our house. It had been a joint decision when we'd decided to move in together that we wouldn't tell anyone else where the house was so that we could live in peace and safety. Now it didn't quite seem like such a good idea. I didn't glance once at the speedo all the way; I didn't want to know by how much I was breaking the law but I would always be grateful we'd taken this car to the bar as I could handle it well and by golly could it go fast.

I only slowed down when I got to the turning that would take us into the little suburban housing estate in which we lived. Our house was the furthest back from the main road at the end of the single street where everyone's long driveway's started. It gave us a true privacy whilst still being close enough to the Shreveport and Bon Temps for easy access. I knew before I even stopped the car in front of the house that he wasn't there; I couldn't feel him at all with any of my sense. During the drive I'd been casting out with my mind to see if I could get an idea of where he was but I'd come up with nothing. It was like he'd been ripped from the face of the earth but at the same time I knew he wasn't dead. I couldn't quite place my finger on what was telling me he was still a member of the undead, but I just _knew._

I couldn't drive on though; I had to see with my own eyes that he wasn't there to really believe it. I stopped the car more roughly that I should have, leaving it in gear with the handbrake on as was my custom. I jogged over to the steps and fished out my keys from deep within my hand bag. "Gah!" I growled out in frustration when I simply couldn't latch my fingers around them. "Less haste, more pace." I muttered to myself under my breath. It was a saying that my grandmother had said to me when I was a little girl, always wanting to be off to where ever we were going. I'd never really understood it but as my fingers latched onto the cool steel of my keys I really did.

I walked into the house and pure emptiness met me; nothing was moving, everything was in darkness and my vampire wasn't waiting for me anywhere. Real panic began to set in then; thudding heart, shallow breaths and a cold sweat broke out on my brow. The worst feeling though was being alone, with no one there to hold me or even help me, my stomach was churning inside me and I felt like my heart was in my throat. My Eric wouldn't do this to me intentionally, he wouldn't walk out on his vampires or the club, something bad had happened to him I just didn't know exactly what yet.

I pulled out my mobile from the apron I was still wearing around my hips and pressed the button for the bar which was on my speed dial.

"Pam." The person I needed to speak to second most at the minute answered before the phone had even started ringing, I'd only just gotten the sound that said the phone had dialled when she spoke.

"It's Sookie," I said, taking on her usual way of not bothering with a greeting. "He's not at the house and I can't feel where he is." Pam knew what I was talking about without further explanation; she was made by Eric a couple of hundred years ago so it she'd probably tried sensing him too.

"Well this isn't good." Vampires were not supposed to even think statements like that, let alone say them.

"Has he called you or anything?" I was stood in my hallway, slowly walking up and down the long yet narrow space in indecision about where to go.

"No, nothing. Can you get a direction or any hint of his whereabouts?" I could hear the background noise changing over the phone which was the only indication I had that Pam was walking. I knew she must have been at the bar because she'd answered that phone but none of the noises she walked through sounded like the usual crowd.

"There's nothing, I thought I could sense him a bit clearer when I was at Merlotte's but it's nothing definitive by any means. Is there anything I can do?" I couldn't sit around here doing nothing; even whilst I was driving my fingers had been continuously tapping on the steering wheel to give me some more movement.

"No." She sounded final and I knew she was stubborn.

"Pam, what do you mean? I have to do something!" My voice was gaining volume even though I knew it would do no good at all.

"You can't do anything, you need to lie low. The witches have something to do with this, we think some sort of spell but we haven't gotten anything definitive out of her. If they've done this to Eric the next step is for them to get you, you're leverage they can use against Eric."

"What about you though? You're the vampire that he made, that's a special connection Pam, they could easily use that."

"Yes they could but you are a lot easier to take and you'd break before me." I really didn't like that statement but I couldn't really protest against it as everything she'd said was true even if I didn't want to admit it.

"Fine."

"Good girl. Before you ask I'll keep in touch. Now you need to keep low, I'd advise staying inside. If you have any problems call us." The high beeping in my ear told me that she'd hung and I followed suit. Despondently I put down the phone as I resigned myself to spending a very lonely evening inside whilst everyone looked for Eric, a search that I should have been at the forefront of.

"Argh!" I screamed at nothing in particular, fists clenched at my side as I just screamed, letting all of my emotions out in that outburst along with the tension that had been building within me. I collapsed down to the ground with my fists still clutched and I didn't soften the blow, I just went down to the carpet of the hallway with a thud. My phone glinted at me in the bright light from the overhead light bulb which didn't have a shade on it; everyone we'd tried had been too low so Eric had continuously banged his head. It wasn't painful for him but it became severely annoying so we'd taken it down, saying that it would remain like that until I found one that would work.

I picked the phone up and pressed number one speed dialling Eric's mobile number. The phone was clutched desperately to my ear with both hands before it started ringing. "Please." I whispered quietly over and over again. My heart stopped in my chest when the ringing suddenly stopped; it had been answered.

"Hello?" It wasn't Eric's deep voice that greeted me but a high pitched feminine voice.

"Who is this?" I asked instantly.

"I'm Lexi, who are you?" The soft giggling lilt of her voice told me she was very young, this was a girl not a woman.

"I'm Sookie, where did you get this phone sweetie?" I wanted answers but I still couldn't find it in myself to be sharp with a little girl that might not have done anything wrong.

"I found it while I was walking with my big brother and Nemo." I could only assume Nemo was her dog.

"Where were you guys walking?"

"In Blacker woods, near..." she was cut off then by a raised voice shouting something at her. "I have to go! Bye!" Before I could stop her she hung up the phone.

"Shit." At least I knew his found had been found in the woods but that really didn't cut it down as Blacker woods stretched all the way from before Bon Temps to past Shreveport. Why his phone was in the woods was a completely new question but I doubted any of the answers would be anything positive. I refused to let my mind take that train of though and I stood up, taking my phone with me and walking into our bedroom.

One of his shirts was thrown over the back of the armchair in the corner of the room with his pair of flip flops underneath the same chair. His hair brush was laid next to mine on the dresser and the bathroom would be exactly the same. The rooms weren't messy, far from it; they were just comfortably lived in, showing that we lovingly shared the room every day. I was just noticing things that I didn't on a normal basis. Resigned, I grabbed a pair of yoga pants that I used as pyjamas, his shirt from the back of the chair and walked into the bathroom. Just as I'd though his things were covering the surfaces just like mine; his shampoo, soap, tooth paste and tooth brush as well as some other things that I didn't even know why he had considering he was a vampire.

I quickly changed, not bothering with a shower since I'd had one less than twelve hours ago, but giving my face a quick wash. When I was stood in my yoga pants and bra in the bathroom I reached for the shirt, stopping before I pulled it over my head. I pulled the material up to my nose, sniffing deeply so that his scent washed over me. The black cloth still smelled deliciously of soap, washing powder and the uniquely masculine scent that was simply Eric. Nothing else I'd ever smelled came close to Eric and nothing had such a calming effect on me, well apart from the vampire himself.

I padded back into the bedroom, dragging my feet slightly and went over to the bed where I laid down, pulling his pillow to my chest to hug it tightly. My eyelids fluttered shut remembering how I'd had to wake him up this evening, the way his pale blond hair had fallen in front of his face when I'd pulled back from our kiss. Tears filled my eyes, seeping out from between my eye lids and the first sob racked my body. I tugged mentally then, calling for him in the way that only I could but I got nothing, not a peek into what was happening with him, not even an emotion.

I laid there for nearly an hour crying into the pillow, truly moping and continually testing the bond we shared for any signs or indications. Every time I got nothing and it only served to push me further down. As the hour approached the tears began to dry in my eyes as I just couldn't physically cry anymore. I had to do something; I couldn't just sit and stew as I waited for news. Deep down I was waiting for Eric to walk through the front door and sweep me up in his arms, kissing away my problems until I was calm enough for him to explain the last few hours. Even deeper down though I knew that wasn't going to happen, something was preventing him from coming back.

I sat up slowly, still wiping drying tears from my cheeks and opened my eyes fully to the room. I couldn't stay here any longer; I couldn't just lie down and mope. I knew that if I stayed in that room, hell in that house, any longer I was just going to continue on the downward spiral of gloomy doom. I also couldn't break my promise to Pam, I couldn't go out actively looking and with no indication from my bond to him there was no where I could realistically look for him. The woods that I'd discovered from the girl covered miles and miles of ground, it was a known foraging ground for the wild boars in the area so I just couldn't go in there searching on my own. There was also one place that hadn't been physically searched and it happened to be the one place where I might find a little solace; my old home.

With tired limbs I got out of bed, slipped my feet into some comfortable old leather boots and grabbed my bag from the hallway, along with my phone, and walked out to the car. I didn't bother getting dressed, I didn't want to waste the time and I still had some things left at my old home even though Tara was living there now. I knew Tara lived alone and since we were friends, or as much friends as we could be with me so deep within the supernatural world, she wouldn't turn me away in an hour of need even if she didn't understand my problem full or if the hour was in the middle of the night.

I climbed back into the R8 and sped back along the familiar roads to Bon Temps, going as faster as I deemed it safe to go. The cold air vents were on high as I drove, whipping my hair out behind me and soothing my face that was heated from all the crying. The roads were deserted as the night had passed from the late side of midnight to the early side so most people were safely tucked up in bed which was what I wanted as long as I had my vampire by my side. I glanced up at the moon and felt reassured as I noted that it was definitely getting smaller since the full moon had passed which would mean some shifters couldn't change at all and the ones that could would find it more difficult, more draining on their power.

Soon the highway gave way to backwater parish roads and I was quickly driving down Hummingbird road when a strange sensation began to over take me. I slowed down almost unconsciously to concentrate on the feeling that was only in my head. I could feel him at the edge of my connection to him, barely there just a flicker of life but it was only a tenuous connection too, not enough to get a marker of where he was or what he was feeling. All I knew was that he was around here somewhere. I think.

I pressed my foot down on the accelerator to speed towards my old home. I couldn't put a finger precisely what was telling me to get there quickly but I just had to get there. I took the corner in third gear, sending gravel flying around and even hitting the paint work, so much so that if it had been any other time I would have cringed at the damage being inflicted. I pulled to a stop in front of the house, not noticing Tara's car at all, and jerked the handbrake into place and leapt from the car; I'd seen something on the porch.

I stopped dead in my tracks halfway between the car and the porch at the person walking down the steps. His head was stooped, staring at the floor as though dejected at what he'd found or hadn't. Pale blond hair was in a wild tangle around his face, what I could see of it anyway. He wasn't wearing a jacket or a shirt, his chest was completely bare, his pale skin luminous in the moonlight and a couple of already healing scratches decorated his glorious muscles. He was still wearing his jeans but they were stained with mood and another substance that looked suspiciously like blood and the bottom hems were wet. He wasn't wearing any shows and more scratches covered his feet completely.

He seemed to become aware of my presence then which was strange due to my arrival in the car. He turned his head, looking straight ahead an all I saw was wide eyed fear. Instantly he crouched his tall frame down and his fingers curled, turning to claws. His fangs had run down with his lips pulled back in a snarl to reveal them, glistening in the night. Eric stood before me and it was a wonderful sight but my heart continued to thud in my chest loudly, warning me of the danger I was in. That's when it really sunk in, he was preparing himself for a fight and it was me he was looking at.

"Eric?"

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**So what did you think? I feel bad for Sookie here. I'm not going to bother asking what you think has happened because we all know. Remember, I love reviews almost as much as I love a certain Viking vampire and I would love to find out what you think of this. Thanks guys, have a good rest of the week. **


	5. Home

**Hello!**

**How are you all? I'm good, went to see the Cats and Dogs 2 movie today, it was really good. I loved the Anatolian shepherd, they're one of my favourite dog breeds; huge, cute and not slobbery! They're also really intelligent and do well with family as they're so loyal and they live to very good age for a pedigree dog that size! Now, I don't usually update this quickly with Remember as my priority is Lost and Found since I started that first but I just couldn't leave this where I ended it last time. I wanted to say a massive thank-you to everyone who sent me a review for the last chapter, you really made my day as you all loved it! Anywho, Charlaine Harris owns the wonderful Southern Vampire Mysteries. **

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"Eric?" I whispered and my voice was wavering already. There was something deeply wrong with him if he was reacting this way to me. "What are you doing?" There was no recognition at all in his eyes as he stared at me as though assessing the danger I posed though I could never harm him.

"Who are you?" A knife sunk deep into my chest with those words, rupturing my heart.

"Eric, it's Sookie. What's wrong?" I didn't dare move any closer to him although all I wanted to do was run up to him and hug him close to my chest, never letting go. Against my better judgement one hand reached up slowly from where I'd held them down by my sides, palms facing towards him to show that I was unarmed. He flinched back at the movement, retreating a couple of steps back toward the house. "Eric, it's me, I'm not going to do anything." My voice raised a little and I admonished myself for it at the look in his calculating eyes.

"How do I know I can trust you?" He was still stooped down but his hands had relaxed a bit so that I could no longer see the straining muscles in his wrists. My eyes flickered shut as I tried to keep back the tears that had once again sprung up in my eyes even after the hour I'd spent sobbing. Closing my eyes shifted my emphasis to my other senses. I wasn't scared to be effectively defenceless in his presence, no matter what was wrong with him; he wouldn't hurt me, not if I didn't make a move to hurt him. I couldn't hear a sound around the clearing; all the animals had ceased their movement but I could _feel _him in my head, still just a flicker of what I usually felt but it was still there. If I could feel him, he could feel me.

"Look inside yourself, I'm there." I concentrated on sending him trusting vibes through our connection, keeping everything innocent and hiding my overriding emotion of fear at the situation. I felt the instant that he relaxed and I dared to open my eyes. He was stood in front of me, still near the porch but his hands weren't screwed up into claws and he was no longer stooped instead standing up to his full height although it no longer seemed like a proud stance.

"How do you do that?" His voice was completely shocked and I finally recognised why he looked so strange to me; he was utterly confused.

"Eric, I'm your bonded, what's going on? What happened?" I fought down the hysterics that were bubbling inside me, now was not the time to panic; Eric clearly needed me but I just wanted him to drop whatever he was doing.

"I don't know." His voice was desolate as he spoke, barely audible it was whispered so quietly.

"Eric..." I started but I was cut off when he stared up at me with his eyebrows raised slightly in question. "What?"

"Is that my name?" He broke my heart with that, twisting the blade completely as it really sunk into me that this wasn't some form of an act.

"Oh, Eric, yes that's you name. Please?" I asked weakly as a tear slid down my cheek which I quickly wiped away, still trying to keep my movement smooth. He may have relaxed a little but there was still tension thrumming through his body. He gave a quick jerky nod of his head and it was all I needed to release me from where I was standing. I rushed forward, literally throwing myself at him to wrap my arms around his neck, going onto tip toes so that I could reach him better. "Oh Eric." I whispered into the cool flesh of his chest. His arms remained stiff by his side and he was rigid as stone underneath my arms.

"You smell different." He muttered under his breath and I barely caught it.

"What do I smell like?" My eyes fluttered shut at his words as I mentally said a prayer that he could smell himself on me, perhaps then he would trust me, perhaps then he would remember.

"You smell like me." He bent his head then into my hair, sniffing deeply. "You smell like home." His arms moved them to wrap around my waist, he picked me up off the ground so that he could bury his whole face into my hair, still breathing deeply through his nose.

"I know, I am home." I whispered back. There was no need at all for us to be whispering, we wouldn't be overheard here, this far out from the centre of town and Tara was clearly out or she would have come investigating by now. "What happened?" I asked again as he placed me back on the ground with his arms back by his sides. I followed suit and let him go no matter how much it hurt to do so; I had to be strong right now. Later I could collapse.

"I don't remember. The first thing I remember is waking up on the ground in the woods. I didn't know who I was or where I was but something was telling me to find something. I walked; I came across a wild boar." He paused then with his arms waving down his body as though that meeting explained the lack of clothing. It didn't but that was a trivial question for later. "I ran, just knowing I had to find something. I came all the way here and I stood on the porch, there was no one inside. That's when you arrived. I was looking for home." He was staring down at me from only a couple of feet away and the most heart wrenching expression decorated his handsome face; he was lost.

"I'm here, I'm not going anywhere." I had to think of something to do, we had to go somewhere. The witches were behind this and since he was still alone it was likely that they also didn't know where he was. That meant they would be looking for him too. It would be easy for them to track this house down and they would check here as a possibility surely, it was only a matter of time. "We have to figure something out though."

"I don't know what to do; I still don't know where I am."

"Shit." He quirked his eyebrows at me.

"Women shouldn't swear, they also shouldn't be out alone at night." He sounded slightly condescending and I just stared at him blankly, I couldn't deal with this on top of everything else.

"I'll explain when I sort something out. We have to get away from here; we need to go somewhere safe."

"We're in danger?" I shouldn't have said anything about danger as he was back to crouching down again and his fangs were extended as he scanned the perimeter of the clearing in which my old home stood. At least his hands weren't acting as claws again.

"No, not now anyway. We need to get to our house." Shouldn't have said that either and I cringed at the way he stood completely stunned, still crouched down.

"We have a house? I know you?"

"I'll explain later but we should get somewhere really safe. Let's get in the car and I'll take you there."

"You're not going to harm me?" it was a completely ridiculous idea that I, an unarmed telepathic human could harm a vampire who was over a thousand years old. I just couldn't bring myself to laugh at the situation, not even a humourless giggle.

"No, I won't harm you." I responded instead and turned my back quickly, wiping away another tear that had escaped my eyes, to get in the car. He walked slowly to the car, looking intently at the entire machine before carefully opening the door as though it was troublesome to climb in beside me. "You'll need to put your belt on." I indicated when he just sat motionless beside me, not moving at all but just staring straight ahead. I put the car into first gear and set out for Hummingbird road at the bottom of my drive, achieving third gear by the time it came to take the corner. We were the only car on the road and I took advantage of it, quickly getting up to a cruising speed which I could easily maintain whilst holding a conversation. "What do you know and remember?"

"I don't remember anything; I woke up in the woods."

"Do you know you're a vampire?" Might as well get the potentially most difficult scenario out of the way first. I gave myself a mental pat on the back as I hit the highway to head towards Shreveport; I was maintaining my composure quite well, especially considering the break down I'd had before coming out here.

"Yes." There was humour in his voice as though he couldn't understand how he wouldn't know that at all.

"You're not going to harm me are you?" My grip tightened on the steering wheel with just the necessity of having to ask such a question of Eric.

"No, I would never hurt a woman." That hurt but at least I knew I wasn't in danger around him. "What did you say your name was?" I desperately fought back the tears with that statement; I even sucked my bottom lip into my mouth to stop myself from sobbing loudly.

"I'm Sookie Stackhouse."

"Hello Sookie." He gave me a very weak smile and the glance that I afforded myself showed me that his fangs had retracted. He was also gazing around at everything now and his fingers were dancing over the dials on the central console. "How do I know you?" I couldn't tell him the truth, saying it out loud would break my limited control and quite possibly send him running from the moving car.

"I can't tell you just yet." I started out but as his fingers stopped mid-motion over the temperature dial for the air vents I quickly continued. "It hurts to say it, just know that we know each other very well. I'll tell you when I can."

I pulled into the entrance to the estate where we lived and relaxed my foot off of the accelerator so we would draw less attention to ourselves; the purring engine was much quieter now compared with the growling engine from the highway. We remained silent as I drove up to our driveway and took the corner in a more respectable second gear.

"You live here?" His voice held a little bit of awe and I glanced across at him, feeling that it was safe to do so considering how slowly we were going up the drive way. He was leaning forward in his seat, straining against the seat belt to look through the wind shield at the house. The one storey building was predominantly brick but we had wooden shutters on every window and the porch too that took up the front and one side was wooden as well, painted a deep red. I parked the car in front of the house, once again not bothering with the garage and got out of the car. Eric paused for a few seconds inside, studying both the seat belt mechanism and the door latch before exiting and quickly joining me by my side.

I locked the car with the remote key and found the front door key on the same key ring. As soon as the door was unlocked I pushed it open and motioned for Eric to go in ahead of me. "Ladies first." He stated in reply and his hand pushed me in gently ahead of him so I had no choice but to agree.

"Are you hungry?" I asked once I'd taken off my boots which left me just in my pyjamas and feeling completely ridiculous at the awkwardness of us two in our own home, not that he really knew that. I was losing my grip on composure if I was thinking like that.

"Yes."

"I'll get you a True Blood." I turned to go into the kitchen but his questioning voice stopped me in my tracks.

"What's a true blood?"

"Follow me and I'll show you." I continued walking into the kitchen and got the bottle out of the fridge, popped the top before putting it into the microwave. "It's a synthetic blood that was invented in Japan. It was invented for medical use on battlefields and in hospitals when there's no human donor blood available. It contains pretty much everything that real blood does, as far as I know, and it allowed vampires to go public about them because it can sustain you guys. Basically it means you don't have to drink human blood."

Just as I finished talking the microwave beeped and I got the bottle out, putting it into his outstretched hand. His inquisitive eyes inspected it for a mere second before he shrugged his massive shoulders and took a deep swig from the bottle. He immediately swallowed and his eyes went a little wide at the taste. "That's not really that nice." He pulled a bit of a grimace, opening and closing his mouth as though he could get used to it that way. I spun the bottle around in his hand to read the label and found that it was a rogue bottle of O positive that had made it into our fridge.

"It's a popular blood group, you prefer the rarer ones as they taste a bit better apparently. I'll get it for you." I got another bottle out of the fridge, double checked it and popped it into the microwave.

"How do you know me so well?"

"We're real close, can't you feel me?" I tapped my head to indicate what I meant. When we were in the car and talking there'd been a stronger sense of his presence in my head though I still couldn't understand what had happened to our bond. He closed his eyes yet I could still read the concentration on his face as he sank into his mind.

"Yes, I can feel you. You evoke emotions I don't understand." The microwave beeping again saved me from having to answer that. This bottle of blood was much better for him, he didn't grimace in the slightest just nodded his head in mute appreciation.

"Now, if you want to wait here, I'll go and call Pam." I turned to leave the room but his hand on my shoulder held me back, stopping me mid stride.

"Don't leave me alone." I gazed at him over my shoulder; there was a deep crease between his eyebrows and his eyes had glazed over with worry. I slowly reached up and placed my hand over his on my shoulder.

"I won't." I started walking forward again with my vampire quite literally latched onto me. Instead of heading to the bedroom where I'd planned on calling Pam I walked into the living room. I knew that he would be able to smell both us entwined in every room of the house but it would only be amplified where we both slept every night or day, he would be able to smell our excitement on the sheets. I knew the latter because Eric had told me it was one of his favourite things about the room, the way it enforced our relationship and proved that we were strong together as a couple. "You can sit on the sofa," I told him as I picked up the phone from its dock. He immediately sat down without me having to explain everything. He only appeared to have lost his memory of personal things; he clearly had an understanding of general things.

"Who's Pam?"

"She's one of my friends, she's a vampire." I told him, it wasn't lying because it was all true I just left some stuff out because I just couldn't handle explaining everything to him and I really didn't have the time to explain it all right now. He nodded; the confused expression was back taking pride of place on his face. I sighed quietly and dialled the number for the bar hoping that it would be a vampire I knew that picked up.

"Fangtasia, the bar with bite. We're busy right now but can I take a quick message and get one of the living dead to call you back tomorrow." The last bit wasn't said as a question and I recognised instantly the voice; Shamira one of the waitresses at the bar that really didn't like having to answer to me as she thought of herself as a true fang-banger and I was just a fraud. She always made a point of flirting with Eric whilst I was there, often breaking the limits of what was acceptable and she'd had several embarrassing encounters as punishment for it.

"Shamira, it's Sookie, I need to speak to Pam."

"Oh, hello. We're really busy Sookie, I'll tell Pam you called." She wasn't even going to tell me about Eric, it was clear she didn't know that I knew from the way she was acting or she would have wanted information.

"Put Pam on now, I'm still your boss." My voice dropped all emotion, turning ice cold and positively dripping with venom. Needless to say she actually heeded my command.

"Pam." The voice made me jump as I hadn't heard the swap over of people and of course she didn't breathe which would have given me a little bit of warning.

"It's Sookie, I have news."

"What do you know?"

"He's here at the house. I found him at my old house and we came back here for safety."

"Good, you need to stay low until we figure this out a bit more. Is he well?"

"Physically yes." I gave him a sweeping glance and found that most of his scratches from earlier had healed, there were a few lines where crusted blood still lingered and a few of the deeper ones still showed pink but he was healthy overall. "Mentally we have an issue; he has some form of amnesia." He actually smiled apologetically at me with the last little statement as though it was his fault when it really wasn't. I squeezed his hand in reassurance before dropping it quickly; it hurt to touch him when my touch was alien to him.

"Is he any danger to you?" She actually had a little emotion inflected into her and she seemed worried.

"No, he's fine. It's personal amnesia, he can't remember anything about who he is but he seems fairly up to date on other things."

"It's too late to do anything tonight; I'll call as soon as I'm up tomorrow and we'll meet up and discuss what we can do."

"What shall I do?" Technically I was kind of Pam's boss since I was bonded to her maker but she had a couple of centuries on me and I needed her advice, as a friend.

"Sleep as much as you can, talk to him if you can to see if it spurs any memories but this is a curse by the witches, don't get your hopes up."

"Do you think we can get him back?"

"Yes. I will get my maker well if I have to kill for it. Actually I might prefer to have to kill for it."

"Good night Pam." I stated before hanging up; I couldn't handle her stranger side on top of all this. Sleep did sound like a good idea, a blissfully unaware state of mind sounded like the perfect get out of jail card even if it was just on bail. I popped the phone back onto the charger and reclined back into the sofa, letting my hands cover my face with the base digging into my eyes.

"What's wrong?" Eric's deep voice asked but it lacked something, it just wasn't him, it was like being sat in a room with a complete stranger.

"I'm just hurting right now that's all. I'll be..." I'd almost told him that I'd be fine, but I couldn't honestly say it because I didn't know if I would be okay. "We'll figure something out. You're to stay here for the rest of the night and spend the day here. Will you be able to tell when the sun comes up?"

He paused for a few seconds, contemplating before he replied. "Yes, I don't think I'd be able to miss it. I'm aware of the sun even now."

"Well that's something at least. We should get you cleaned up."

I stood up and before I could even motion for him to follow me he was stood only a few inches behind me, it was like having another shadow all of a sudden. I padded tiredly down the hallway to the spare bathroom; it couldn't accurately be named the guest bathroom because we never had guests. I wasn't entirely sure why we had it. I left the door open behind me so that he knew he could follow me in and I began to fill the sink up with warm water, adding in a little bit of liquid soap too. I grabbed a small hand towel from the cupboard built into the wall where we kept spare bathroom items and I dipped the end into the water. "Sit down there." I indicated the side of the bath tub and he obediently sat down, resting his hands on his knees.

I began dabbing at the dried blood on his chest, marring the brilliant whiteness of the towel. I walked in silence, concentrating fully on what my hands were doing and only the immediate white skin around where I was working, not the person it belonged to. Soon the water had taken on a dirty red shade of colour and I was forced to refresh the water as I'd only cleaned off of his chest. He could have done this himself but I had the strange need to look after him, take care of him just like we'd done before. I began working on the backs of his hands then and thoughts began to creep into my mind of how he'd come about getting them and losing his clothing.

I was holding his left hand, palm to palm, whilst my other hand was bathing the back of his hand when his fingers suddenly started stroking my wrist softly. My eyes flickered up from my task to stare into his eyes which were boring into me. His fingers stopped their movement to grip my wrist gently and his other hand stilled my other hand, holding my warm flesh between his cool hands.

"I'm sorry I'm hurting you. I don't mean to. I don't like seeing you upset." I stared at him, unmoving for a couple of seconds as tears welled up in my eyes, there was nothing I could do to stop them, I'd been strong for long enough.

"I know, it's not your fault." I wanted to tell him I wasn't upset, that it wasn't him that was causing any problem but I couldn't and he would know if I lied to him. "Don't worry about little old me. You don't have to apologise." A single tear swelled up and over my lower eye lid, to roll down my cheeks and I knew the single drop would open up the flood gates. I carefully extracted my hands from his grip, place the damp towel down beside him on the tub and stood up. "I'll be in the bedroom; you should come in before dawn to make sure your safe. I'll be awake then." I leant down and placed a tender kiss on his forehead, wishing that my vampire was really here with me, not just this shell of him. I turned then, quickly and made my way out of the room.

"I'm sorry." He whispered behind me and I just caught the words before I left the room, carefully closing the door behind me.

His tender words rocked through my body and I finally let the emotion that I'd been feeling since I'd found him in this state out. Silent tears raced down my cheeks to splash down from my chin. There was no noise but pain sobs made my body convulse as I lay down on our bed. I pulled my jumper from my body leaving me in just his t-shirt and yoga pants. I clambered uneasily under the duvet and pulled it up under my chin and over my shoulders, making me feel snug but it didn't work to comfort me. Eric's pillow was still lying on my side of the bed from where I'd been huddling up to it earlier and I did so again, tucking it into my chest tightly. I sniffed deeply pulling every trace of his scent into my body, imagining that it was him hugging me.

With my eyes closed I felt an arm snake around my waist and reach up searching for my hand. I instantly complied and snagged my hand around his gripping hard as I found my anchor. His body moulded around mine completely, his leg covering mine as his chest snuggled into my back, getting as close as he possibly could. His cool flesh eased my heated body, soothing the convulsions from my sobs until it was only silent tears that were ruining our moment together. His fingers traced little circles lightly on the back of my hand where it was pulled up to my chest so high that my chin was resting against his forearm and I could feel the slightly rough hairs on his arm. There was a weight on the pillow behind me which sent my head at an angle and that's when I realised that it wasn't my imagination that was running riot on me, trying to ease my body, there really was a vampire in my bed.

I froze for a second, not breathing, until he'd settled completely behind me sharing my pillow. We were so close that his nose was buried into my hair. He was actually breathing; I could feel the soft flow of air over the back of my neck. "I don't want you to be upset. You smell like home, you feel like home." I closed my eyes again and just sank into my sense, feeling him around me and the way he was trying to comfort me even though he didn't know me. I forgot what was going on around me in reality and I let my body lie to my brain. His soothing worked and soon I was on the edge of slumber with a vampire that wasn't quite my own wrapped around me.

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**So, what do you think? I feel really bad for Sookie but I'm tied up about who to hug, her or Eric because he's so lost, poor thing. I promise this story isn't entirely predictable as coming up I have my own little twist and more of their back story! Oh, and for all you Bill haters out there, he's not really involved. So, lemme know what you think because I'm sure by now you all know I love feedback almost as much as a certain Viking vampire *hugs***


	6. Hurting

**Hello!**

**How are you all? Want to start off by saying a really big thank-you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter; for the first time I have more reviews than chapters in the story lol. I had a busy day; I was at the stables all day getting ready for the horse show that's tomorrow. It's a different one to last weekend, there's two in my area and they're always on consequtive weekends, this one is bigger though. I didn't get to ride today but I do on Monday *big grin* Anyway, Charlaine Harris owns the wonderful Southern Vampire Mysteries and I hope you like this :)**

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When I awoke the next morning the bedroom was bathed in pale yellow light from the bedside lamp yet I couldn't remember ever switching it on or switching off the main light; I hadn't wanted to be in darkness last night. The alarm clock also told me that it was actually just past noon so it was afternoon and I really should be getting up. I was completely snug though; wrapped up in the duvet with it still tucked under my chin, curled up on my side with my face buried into the pillow and there was a cool body pressed up against my back which made sense since there was a strong arm draped over my waist. There was a niggling doubt in my head though, as though my mind was desperately trying to bring my body out of sleep fully.

It hit me like a tonne of bricks when I finally remembered; Eric wasn't himself. The last remnants of sleep left me swiftly and my eyes snapped wide open; I couldn't let my body lie to me anymore. The vampire at my back was Eric, there was no way that you could replicate that man, but he couldn't remember me, or anything to do with his personal life and it had stripped him of the personality that I loved. If the vampire wasn't _my_ vampire I didn't want it, there was no substituting him.

I slowly slithered out of the bed, underneath his arm so that I didn't have to move him, and stood up to observe the situation that had unfolded last night. Eric was spread eagled across the bed taking up all the extra room that was available since I'd been curled up however he was still managing to share the same pillow as I'd been using and his hair was trailing over the area where his pillow should have been. I also discovered that he wasn't wearing anything and I was afforded a glimpse of that glorious butt since the duvet was just about only covering his feet. Even given what had happened muscles low down in my stomach tightened deliciously although my mind was appalled at the motion.

Quickly I rushed from the bedroom and into the en-suite bathroom, slamming the door shut behind me as I collapsed back against it, sliding onto the floor. I rested my head in my hand, letting the heels of my palms dig into my eyes to distract myself from the pressure building in my head. It also made me aware that my eyes were at least swollen from all of my crying the night before and I was willing to bet the skin would be red to match the blood shot eyes. I must look a right state and because focusing on that took my mind off of everything else that was going on I heaved myself up off of the floor and began to get cleaned up.

The hot shower spray eased the ache from my muscles, the moisturiser that was actually part of my normal routine helped me feel ridiculously smooth after shaving and I was squeaky clean and soft by the time I'd done in the bathroom. I didn't bother blow drying my hair I had a date with the open fire in the living room for that so I just left it hanging around my shoulders, still wet. As I'd rushed so much to get away from the bedroom I hadn't picked up anymore clothes so I wrapped my dressing gown, which I hardly ever used as there was simply no need, tightly around my body and jogged into the walk in closet. Somehow I managed to have enough will power to not even glance at the bed. In respect to what was likely to happen tonight, I was expecting some form of show down, I pulled on a pair of comfortable black jeans, one of Eric's shirts and a plain black button down shirt of my own. The shirt gave me some added warmth but I could easily slip it off for more movement and the t-shirt still had Eric's scent which soothed me.

I wasn't hungry at all, my stomach had begun to start churning as soon as I'd fully woken up, but knowing that I had to eat I grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl, taking it into the living room with me. The fire place had been my stipulation as it reminded me of childhood nights sat in front of the fire with my grandmother brushing my hair. This fireplace however wasn't quite as natural as that; you simply turned a few dials at the side and threw a lit match into it to get a roaring fire going pretty much instantly. Only a minute later I was able sit down crossed leg on the plush rug in the centre of the room, my back resting against the coffee table to begin teasing out the tendrils of my hair.

I was truly alone in my situation as everyone that I could turn to, not that there were that many actually, we dead to the world at the minute asleep in their beds. Pam was a true friend, the only real one I had amongst the vampires, and I could rely on her to be there for me if I needed it. She did take some getting used to; she actually had a good sense of humour although it was a tad strange, she came across as a demure young woman when she was actually quite the vixen and even after all this time she still hit on me. I wouldn't change her now though. There were precisely two people left in the world that I could talk to and only one of them I would class as a friend. It was that observation that made me realise how far into the world of vampires I'd sunk.

When my hair was brushed, hanging straight down my shoulders, and I'd eaten the apple albeit very slowly I picked up the phone from the charger on the side table and dialled. Alcide was likely to be in his office which was where I tried first and I was calling to see if the Weres had found anything more out about the witches since I doubted any of the vampires would willingly get in contact.

"Herveaux and Sons, how can I help?" Unfortunately for me it was the obnoxious receptionist that answered who I knew for a fact was having an affair with Alcide's father. Another glorious fact brought to you by telepathy.

"Hello, can I speak to Alcide please?"

"I'm sorry, he's busy right now, can I take a name and a message?" Her tone was bright but you could see through it like water in a glass and I was sure she recognised my voice; we didn't contact the Weres too much but it was always me that did and we, the vampires in general, made a point to catch up with the other Shreveport supernaturals every couple of weeks.

"It's Sookie Stackhouse; I really need to speak to Alcide." If she didn't know my voice she knew my name, and she'd been told several times by Alcide just to page me on through. I had to stop calling the office, it was too much hassle which meant I needed his new mobile phone number.

"I'm sorry Miss Stackhouse, he's still busy can I take a message?"

"Sonja, get off of the phone, you have to page Sookie through if she says she needs to speak to me." Alcide's growly voice suddenly came on the line making me jump; his little was also quickly followed by a loud beep that signified Sonja hanging up. "Hey Sookie, sorry about that. You know how she is but father just won't fire her. How are you?"

"Not good actually we have vampire problems; I don't think I can tell you the details but Eric's in trouble due to the witches. What about you?" We'd become masters at asking ordinary questions to get real answers when we were on the office line.

"We're all good, nothings amiss at least. One of the sniffer dogs managed to track down a house where they stayed when they first came into town. They're not all two natured, only about half at most and from the different scents there's only twenty of them tops. But they even smell powerful."

"That aint good, have you figured out who spilled the beans?" The last time we'd spoken we'd discussed the possibility that someone within the pack had been covering up since there were enough Weres to notice some strange shifters hanging around the city.

"No, we have some suspects and we'll keep looking into it. I'll call Flood now and check in with him. If you, any of you, need anything give me a call. With this we have to work together, no matter what side of the fence we're on."

"I couldn't agree more, I'll keep in touch too. Thanks Alcide."

"No problem, I hope things sort them self out with Eric, hurts me to say this but you two are actually good together." That was a major admission for Alcide to make; when we'd met he'd been interested in me and he didn't hide his unease about vampires. We said out goodbyes again and I was thrown into the silence of the house, it was so quiet that if I listened I could actually hear the quiet hum of the refrigerator. I needed to get, see some space and people but I couldn't blatantly put myself in danger like that so I did the next best thing and called Amelia.

"Hello Broaden Yours Horizons, Amelia speaking." Her voice was cheerful, as always, and she managed to infuse her tone with a sincere edge that made it sound she was happy to speak to you specifically.

"Hey Amelia," I started out and even to my own ears I sounded down.

"Sookie! How's it going girl?" she sounded even happier now and I could hear her heavy footfalls as she moved from the front of the store to a more private area.

"Not good Amelia, not at all."

"Problems with Hallow?" This was why I loved Amelia, well one of the reasons, she cared and I could tell her absolutely anything in complete confidence.

"It's beyond a problem now, they've cursed Eric and I'm stuck on my own at the minute."

"What happened? How is he?" She covered the receiver for a split second but I could still hear her muffled voice asking if someone would mind leaving the paperwork in her office for now as she needed it for a few minutes. I patiently waited until I could hear her light breathing easily before continuing.

"He has severe amnesia; he can't remember a damn thing about his personal life. He's not himself at all; he has a new personality because he doesn't have memories. I want him back!" I may have sounded like a whiney toddler but I really didn't care right then and I knew Amelia wouldn't judge me.

"Oh my god! He can't remember _you_?"

"Nope, not a damn thing. He can still feel me through the bond though he doesn't understand any of it."

"Well shit. If he can't remember you. What about Pam?"

"Nothing, not a clue. He didn't even know his name. Have you ever heard of a curse like this?" I pulled myself up off of the floor while she paused to think for a couple of seconds, and I snuggled up with the arm of the sofa. I was thankful that we'd gotten the corner sofa now; I could easily stretch out without my feet touching the other side.

"Yes, surprisingly but not this strong. There's a spell to make you forget certain things, traumatic experiences that sort of thing which is dictated by the person who needs to forget, they have to think about it whilst the spell is being cast. There's a curse version of it; the witch casting can choose a memory or a few and wipe them clean out, but she needs to know the memory. I guess Hallow managed to adapt it, she's powerful enough."

"That doesn't sound good. Will he regain his memories?" I was terrified of the potential answer to this question I so I waited with my breath held and my heart thundering loudly.

"I don't know Sookie, people with the minor curses can remember everything given some time. It helps to try and remember; photos, tokens, places, people. I think you should be prepared for the worst though, I mean, this is horrible but you're the biggest token to get him to remember things there is and it's not working yet. I think you just have to give it some time. Of course, the witch that cast it can counteract it very easily." It was better than a flat out no and it kindled a small amount of hope in my chest, enough to quieten down my heart.

"Could any other witch cast a counter spell?"

"Not without knowing exactly what was used and I imagine Hallow didn't write it down. The exact ones you can find in our books are easy but they don't have anywhere near this amount of power behind them."

"Could you try?"

"Well I can give it a shot but chances are it won't make a blind bit of difference I'm afraid Hun."

"Are you able to do it down there?" If she had to come all the way up from New Orleans to perform the spell I'd at least wait a few days and see if we couldn't get Hallow to reverse it first.

"Nope, just something from the person who's been cursed and I happen to have a very nice photograph of your man which will do nicely." I smiled as I remembered when that particular photograph had been taken, purely by accident too. Eric and I had been dating each other quite seriously for a few months and we were in my bedroom fooling around to put it lightly. Amelia came home early from her shift at Merlotte's and we weren't even aware that she was in the house because as soon as we'd pulled up in front of the house we hadn't been able to keep our hands or mouths off of each other, Eric and me that is. We'd wandered straight to the bedroom. Amelia, having heard some footsteps came wandering in after us with the camera held up to her eye, when she'd walked in and seen what was happening she'd taken the photograph. As soon as it popped out of the camera it revealed a lust filled Eric without a shirt on unbuttoning his jeans. We'd argued over who was going to get the picture later that evening.

"Thank-you Amelia."

"It's okay, just don't get your hopes up." There was a sudden thud which sent my eye flickering upwards as though I could see through walls. With only me being alive in the house it meant only one thing; Eric was up. A glance at the clock told me that I'd passed most of the afternoon away rather quickly and it was indeed time for him to be getting up.

"Thanks, no matter what you say, trying means a lot to me. I got to go, he just woke up, I think I have some explaining to do."

"Okay girl, I'll be thinking of ya." We hung up the phone with that and as I was popping the phone back on the charger the vampire in question walked into the room. I couldn't really state what the difference was; he was physically exactly the same, but something about told me that he wasn't really my vampire. It must have been something to do with how he carried himself; my Eric was always confident and proud, this Eric seemed unsure and confused.

"Hi." I stated and I hoped that my voice didn't give away all the hurt I was feeling at seeing him there.

"Hello. Can you show me how to get the bottles of blood again please? I'm very hungry." Another stark difference; Eric hardly ever asked me to get him blood, he either got it for himself, I fetched him one anyway or he had some of mine. I happened to like the latter version the best most of the time. I could say without a doubt that I'd never used the excuse of having a headache. There was another reason too; sex released endorphins which help ease pain.

"Sure." I offered him a smile of reassurance which worked to erase some of the apprehensive tension in his body. I uncurled from the sofa, stretched my arms up above my head which I noted with a twinge of embarrassment he watched with a lot of interest, before getting up to go to the kitchen. "Okay, blood," I opened up the refrigerator to show him the entire top shelf that was taken up by the bottled synthetic stuff. "It's all flavours that you kinda like so take any. Couple of twists to get it mixed properly, pop the top and in the microwave for about thirty seconds." I showed him, slowly so that he would be able to easily recall it, how to operate the microwave. "Just get a bottle whenever you want." He nodded his thanks, even giving me a shaky grin that allowed me to see his elongated fangs. My stomach tightened again as my mind disobediently strayed to what those delicious teeth could do. I had to get my body under control.

I walked quickly from the room to settle back down on the sofa with my hands covering my eyes with my head resting against the back of the sofa. I couldn't handle this, I couldn't do it. Perhaps Pam could take care of him? It was too painful to watch the man I was in love with wander around completely oblivious to me. "Urgh." I moaned when it hurt even more to think of pawning him off on Pam. No matter how much it hurt I would stand by him, I just had to be there for him, even if he didn't really know me.

"What's wrong?" His voice broke through my thought induced stupor and I jumped at the deep tone, dropping my hands so that I could see him. What I saw before me shocked me; how the hell had I missed that observation before. He was only wearing a pair of jeans, a different pair from last night so he must have been in the closet. It wasn't intentional but he really wasn't making this easy on me.

The well defined muscles of his abs were clearly visible and looked as inviting as ever with the light smattering of blond chest hair and the treasure trail of hair below his navel, leading down into his jeans. The skin was pale, of course, but you could even tell he'd had a pale complexion before and the skin held that luminous glow that all vampires had to me. It was a marvellous thing to see my glowing tan next to the literally glowing pallor of him. I had to remember this wasn't my Eric, if anything happened between me and him as he now stood, it would be wrong, it would almost be as though I was cheating.

"Can you," my voice broke and I tore my eyes away from, once again covering them with my hands as I leant forward to rest my elbows on my knees. "Can you put a shirt on please?" There was a split second of silence before he responded.

"Sure." When I risked a peak through my fingers, not bothered that it was a rather childish movement, I found the room empty. It was less than a minute later that he returned with a plain black t-shirt on and a button down shirt in deep red over his arm, he was also smiling at me apologetically. He picked his bottle of blood up from where he'd left it on the coffee table and took a seat next to me on the sofa. While one leg was sprawled out in front of him, the other was bent up onto the sofa so that he was turned to face me. I had a sinking feeling, I was getting a lot of those recently, that he was about to ask a question that I really didn't want to answer.

"Thank-you." I whispered quietly and I dared to really look at him again. There was an actual glint of innocence in his eyes that I'd never seen before and I was overcome with the urge to hug him. My heart kept the rest of my body in check though; being that close to him would hurt. My heart was very fragile at the moment, it hadn't completely shattered but it was in tiny pieces, held together by a thread of hope.

"It's okay. I have been wondering though." I raised my eyebrows in question, encouraging him to proceed. I doubted that my voice would have held through anything longer than a single word anyway. "What am I like? I know you must know me well, the bedroom smells of both of us." He didn't elaborate on what exactly he could smell, our excitement, my sweat as disgusting as that sounds, and pure sex and it wasn't accompanied by a suggestive eye brow wiggle. Anyone who had even had a fleeting acquaintance with Eric would have known something was drastically wrong with that little snippet. "You're also wearing one of my shirts." He took a deep sniff then, leaning slightly forward, before nodding his head as though he'd proven himself correct. "Tell me about me." That question I could answer without too much trouble.

"You're the strongest, proudest most confident man I know. You're the boss of a group of vamps, of an area of Louisiana called Area five which includes Bon Temps where I'm from and Shreveport where we are now. You're a good leader, the best in the state apparently and you have lots of loyal followers."

"Is it through savagery or through my excessive generosity and kindness?" He half smiled at that and the little tendril of hope wound tighter around my heart; he still had a bit of a sense of humour. It was a start at least.

"Neither actually. In the past, long before I knew you, there was a rather savage streak but you've become fairer. Pam says it's in the past two years especially." I didn't add that those two years happened to coincide to the time we'd been seriously involved with each other. "There's many a leader crueler than you, you can deal out the punishment but you always find out the truth first. You're fair; it's a very good trait."

"Tell me more, what am _I_ like? Not as a leader or a vampire, but just _me._" That's when it hit me that he really didn't know anything of his personality but he actually knew he was missing something. I'd been concentrating on all of my own selfish feelings when he was coping with his own form of hurt.

"Sure. With the people you trust, like me and Pam, you open up and relax. It's amazing to watch you truly be you. You're fun, you have a wicked sense of humour, you treat women right all of the time, you can be a perfect gentleman."

"Can be?"

"Sometimes women don't want a perfect gentleman, not all of the time anyway. You kind, generous, and at times, with me, you're sweet and tender. You're a charmer though, a flirt but you're fiercely loyal and you'd protect those you care about to the death. You're a good man." I clarified and I was embarrassed to find a tear rolling down my cheeks at the picture of his cheeky smile in my mind's eye. The next thing I knew he was tenderly stroking away the wetness with his finger, stroking my cheek with his others fingers as well.

"What are we Sookie?"

"What do you mean?" There was more weight to his question than there had been before, really passion in his voice of wanting to know the answer.

"When you were speaking there was a smile playing on your lips, your whole face lit up with it. You were my shirt, we share a house but we aren't married. And I can feel you, here," he pointed to his head. "And here." He pointed to his heart and somehow I found the strength to hold back the sob that was threatening to break through.

"I can't tell you yet, it hurts. I'll tell you when we get back from the bar. We'll talk all night if it will help you. Just give me a few more hours."

"Okay." Then he did something that completely shocked me. He leaned over, closing the distance between us and put his arms around my shoulders, pulling me tightly into his chest. I sat, tensed, in his grip for a full second before I collapsed against him, letting his cool body soothe me like it always had done before. "I'm sorry."

"What for?" I whispered quietly, holding back tears at our contact, it just wasn't the same and I missed my vampire.

"I'm what's making you hurt and I don't know how to stop hurting you."

"It's still not your fault." Shakily one hand reached up and I placed it on his forearm but unable to squeeze to offer my comfort. It was enough though apparently because he added something else which was like an internal hug. "Thank-you for taking me in Sookie." I nodded against his chest. I missed being called 'lover' as well, as simple as it sounds. He released me then and I quickly pulled back, retreating to rest against the arm rest of the sofa.

"I need to call Pam, see what time we're meeting and where." I picked up the phone and dialled her personal mobile number using the phone's number book.

"Pam." She greeted as was customary for her.

"Hey, it's Sookie. When and where are we meeting?"

"My place and as soon as you get here. The bar is open but Chow is looking over that for the night, it should be safe." I couldn't tell whether she was talking about her house being safe for the meeting or whether the bar would be safe for the night in Chow's hands.

"Okay, we'll head right over." I just hoped I could remember where Pam lived since I'd only been there a couple of times before. She hung up without saying anything and I just shrugged it off. "We're going to Pam's house, it'll be safer than the bar."

"So I run a bar?" I could just tell this was going to be a long, long night.

Half an hour later I was knocking on Pam's cream coloured front door with a giant of a Nordic vampire stood over my shoulder and he was actually shuffling from foot to foot with apprehension. It would have been amusing in pretty much any other situation. Pam couldn't have opened the door fast enough although she did make a damn good attempt at it.

"Come in." She walked down the hallway into a beautifully decorated living room, leaving us to follow behind her and lock the door. Once in the room I took a seat in the arm chair that was opposite, although at a jaunty angle to, the sofa where she sat demurely in one of her pastel pink outfits. The room practically screamed Louisiana although everything was high end it was still practical and it suited her personality wonderfully. "How are things progressing?"

"First of all, Eric this is Pam your second in command." He was still stood in the doorway looking between us a like there was a tennis match taking place. With the introduction he felt safe enough to walk into the room and take a seat on the floor with his back against my shins. "Everything is the same as last night."

"Eric." She stated and he obediently turned his head to look at her. "What am I to you?" That was a loaded question that only the real Eric would have been able to answer.

"You're my second in command." He replied confidently as he'd just heard those words from my lips. Pam nodded but he eyes looked far away and shock completely took over her face. She stared ahead, going into herself completely, not realising that she was even looking at her. His words had hurt her, it was the same as it had been for me to really realise he couldn't remember. "Did I say something wrong?" He whispered to me, one hand resting on my knee so that he could twist around better.

"No, it's fine." I smiled at him for added reassurance and thankfully Pam snapped out of it, whatever it was, then.

"Okay, so you really can't remember. No exaggeration, sorry Sookie." She didn't bother to smile and the only tone in her voice was the bored one that was her customary style.

"What do we do now?"

"We have a meeting with Hallow scheduled for tomorrow night, but I don't think you two should be there. We can bluff through that easily enough and we should have some of her weaknesses sorted out by then. The day staff have a few buildings where they could be sheltered. They've been faxed over to the Weres who are going to get their trackers on it. If we can't negotiate anything, I have the documents about your financial benefits, we will get it sorted out and the curse revival will be in it. If we can't, we attack and we force a reversal." She shrugged her shoulders as though it really was that easy.

"Can we actually successfully attack?" If Hallow could do this I certainly didn't want to be within the same room as her again.

"Possibly we can if we're on our own but with Were and witch help we definitely can. We'll sort the plans for that out if it comes to that. Have you spoken to Amelia? I called her just before you got here." I didn't realise they were still in contact with each other.

"Yes, she explained the curse and the prognosis. What do you think of it?"

"I think we have a definite chance, we have negotiations, attack, time, and your bond to get you through." Eric turned his head around at that word 'bond' he'd heard it quite a few times recently and it still hadn't been explained to him. I shook my head slightly, hoping that he would remember my promise. He obviously did because he nodded before turning back around.

"Where should he stay?"

"Your house, it's the safest place and surrounded by memories I'm sure."

"Okay."

"I think that's all, we could have spoken on the phone but I had to see for myself." Her voice grew quieter at the end giving me an insight into heart, the small trace belied the true strength of emotion she was feeling. I got up to my feet then, stepped around Eric and walked over to Pam. I sat down on the sofa beside her and threw my arms around her shoulders, squeezing her petite body to me tightly. Shocking me utterly she wrapped her arms around my waist, simply resting them there. I wasn't entirely sure who needed the hug most in that moment but I knew I would need it for the road so to speak. I had a long night ahead of me and it knew it was going to hurt no matter what I did.

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**So what did you think? What do you think's going to happen with the curse? You know I love feedback almost as much as a certain Viking vampire. Have a good weekend *hugs***


	7. Conversation

**Hey guys, **

**Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, I've been working on the length of it. It was originally about triple this length but it didn't really flow properly so I've split it up and I'll post the next little bit tomorrow. I found it highly amusing that 'oreo' is recognised by the English (uk) dictionary on microsfot word. I miss Oreos, you can only get two types here (original and chocolate filling) at the minute or pay six quid for double stuf, and I don't have that kinda money for biscuits. Also, have you guys seen the new car audi are bringing out? The A7, it's flaming beautiful with its sports back **** Charlaine Harris owns the wonderful Southern Vampire Mysteries. **

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We clung to each other for longer than I'd imagined and it was minutes later when I pulled back from her, our hands trailing down the others' arms. When we'd finished hugging I knew it was more than enough emotion for one night for Pam and I stood up, ready to head back to my secluded little house with Eric where we could begin to talk things through. When I stood I got a full view of Eric who was still at against the chair I'd been sitting in; his face was completely emotion and I could read it like a book. He was lost, so completely lost and confused that it was causing him physical pain. He had nothing of his own, no memories and no possessions anymore. He had me though and when I smiled reassurance at him his entire face lit up as he smiled back.

"I'll call you if I hear anything and check in tomorrow at the latest. Keep in touch with the Weres." I nodded in response to Pam and walked over to Eric where I extended my hand out for him, like you would with anyone you wanted to take care of. He quickly clutched my hand in his much larger one and quick as a blink he was stood next to me.

"Bye Pam." I called out to her as we walked down the hallway; she hadn't got up from the sofa yet. We walked out to the car; I pulled the door shut behind us making sure the extra lock clicked into place, before getting into the driver's side. I pulled out of the drive away and quickly found myself lost deep in thoughts, going over what I'd just discovered.

During my hug with Pam I'd allowed myself to be comforted, sinking down into that feeling had opened up my mind to analyse what I'd been feeling. I'd been completely selfish; taking out my hurt on Eric and letting him feel my anger that I held towards the witches. I'd been telling him that I didn't blame him for what had happened but through my actions he really must have felt that I was blaming him. I had to stop that, immediately and apologise. I was hurting yes but I most definitely wasn't the only one hurting, I'd seen that first hand when I'd seen the pain in his expressive eyes after I'd left Pam. He needed something, needed someone and I was going to be that someone. I was resolute in my thinking, I had to help him and I'd be damned if I didn't succeed. As though he was aware I'd come to some form of internal decision he spoke, bringing me to full consciousness. It was probably a good job I had excellent reflexes from frequent influxes of vampire blood or it would have been very dangerous to drive.

"Is this my car?" He asked suddenly.

"Sort of, it's ours. We have quite a few, one is mine that I just use for work when you let me." I winked at him to show it wasn't a bad thing on his part. My Eric didn't like me driving what he called a rust bucket as he didn't think it was safe enough so I'd been slowly weaning myself off of the car onto the sports cars we owned. "All the others we share."

"Do we share everything?" This conversation was taking a very deep turn and I wasn't quite ready for it, no matter what decision I'd come to. For this talk to happen I wanted to be curled up in our living room and definitely not operating what could turn out to be a very dangerous weapon.

"Pretty much. We can still function separately and you have your things and I have my own but it's not like a keep your hands off or else." I took a deep tone for the last little bit, trying to mimic an authoritative voice. It was a little pointless though, I just wasn't that good at that sort of thing unless I was angry or frustrated.

"Can I drive? I feel like I can."

"Yeah, you should be able to remember too. How about tomorrow I take you out to the quiet areas of downtown, near the factories and you can have a spin? We shouldn't really be seen just in case we get spotted by a witch."

"I'd like that. You would come with me though yes?" His voice was hopeful and I risked a glance at him to find him gazing back at me expectantly, although there was a worried set to his eyes.

"Of course." We drove on in silence for a few minutes until we were once again on small roads near our house. "Can I try something?" I missed our usual contact during drives, we didn't always fill the quiet with talking we didn't have to be content with the others' company but there was a constant whenever we were in the car together.

I held out my hand to him carefully after I put the car into the amazing gift that was third gear, and waited for his response. It took a few seconds of him thinking, trying to understand what I wanted but he eventually moved. I felt his cool hand above mine and then he tentatively lowered it down onto my hand, letting our fingers lace together. I wanted him to remember and familiar things could help, this was one of our habits. I was hopeful, pushing down the hurt of him not understanding this simple gesture. The tension that had been there originally disappeared after a few seconds when he finally realised I wasn't going to flinch away from him. I squeezed his hand to give him reassurance before speaking.

"What do you feel?" I asked, keeping my eyes trained straight ahead. I was coping, barely, but I didn't want to test this new found sense of purpose too much; I didn't think I could handle seeing first hand any disappointment on his face.

"It feels familiar having warm skin against mine. Your hand is so small, mine dwarves it." He picked our hands up, pulling them closer to his face for close inspection. "Your hand is so warm and soft, I can feel the heat radiating through my whole hand. It feels familiar, like something just below the surface. Like something you see every day but don't really notice so you can't really make a comment about it."

"You don't remember us doing this before?" I asked quietly, hoping that my own disappointment wasn't evident in my voice. I didn't feel it too bad though, I hadn't really expected it to be solved by such a little thing, things weren't even that easy in fairytales.

"No. It just feels really familiar." He placed our hands back down on the central console and then they were immobile. That stung a little, every time we did this he always rubbed circles or little patterns on my hand with his thumb, in an unconscious act that most of the time he didn't even realise he was doing. There was none of that now. "I like it." All it took was three words to make me keep my hand held out for him. I wasn't immune to the strength of his grip though, it was tight and firm as though he was holding on for dear life.

I managed to drive all the way to the driveway with the car in third gear, probably driving in a way that wasn't entirely healthy for the car but if the worst came to the worst we'd just replace it.

We pulled to a stop outside of the house, once again not bothering to put it into the garage. I got out of the car, letting Eric get out too before locking it using the remote key and walking up to the house. I unlocked the door and the first thing I did was shuck my shoes as soon as I got inside. I was tired.

"Are you still going to talk to me?" He was apprehensive again and there was worry written clear across his face when I looked up at him. He was stood just behind the closed front door, his arms hanging limply by his side; he wasn't comfortable in his own home.

"Yes, I promised you, I never break my promises." Well there was that time I was too sick to get out of bed and I'd had to cancel on our plans but I thought it was best to skip clear over that little incident; he hadn't minded back then anyway.

"I'm sorry." He whispered to me, still stood by the door so I barely heard it. The apologising was definitely something new; my Eric knew how to apologise but he preferred to not do anything needy of a true, spoken apology which was fair enough with me. A vampire was surprisingly easy to live with, they were silent during the day when you were trying to get chores done, although we did have a housekeeper coming once a week, and they never really did anything wrong domestically because well, they didn't really do anything domestically. I'd never once had to yell at him for leaving the toilet seat up which I'd heard plagued some couples, and he never left the pots unwashed after eating because he didn't eat. He was actually very good with his bottles of blood; rinsing them out I the sink before putting them into the recycling bin.

"What are you sorry for?" I asked as sweetly as I could.

"For not remembering. You were trying to help me in the car." He actually sounded guilty.

"Yes I was and I'm still trying. I didn't expect things to be sorted that easily, but I'm not giving up. While we're apologising I want to say I'm sorry too." I held my finger up to silence him when he looked like he was going to retaliate. "I was horrible to you last night and I shouldn't have been. I was thinking only of how this affects me but it really gets you. I'm sorry, I'll be better and I'm going to stick by you." Guilt filled me completely as I remember all the things I'd said to him, what he must have read in my expressions and how I'd thought that I was stuck with him, wanting to give him over to Pam.

"Okay." He smiled at me slightly and I nodded. I wasn't quite ready to hug him yet though.

"I'm just going to put some pyjamas on; I'll be out in a minute. You can get some blood or something." I padded down the hallway to our bedroom where I gathered a fresh pair of yoga pants, slipper socks and an old t-shirt to change into for pyjamas. Once I was changed, my hair was tied up into a high pony tail; I sighed and turned to face the conversation.

I found Eric in the kitchen, taking the first tentative sip from a freshly micro waved bottle of blood. I'd never seen him so unsettled before, he always acted so confident, well always in public no matter what he felt like inside and he was definitely never this timid. I diverted my eyes from him and began getting myself a snack, chocolate digestives and double stuf Oreos, along with a steaming mug of coffee. There was no way this conversation would be over quickly, I didn't want to rush it either, and I was already tired, I was hoping he caffeine would hit my system quickly to keep me fully awake. When I was finished he was cradling a half empty bottle of blood and he was watching me with an interest I hadn't seen in a very long time. Not over such a very mundane task.

When we'd first started going out Eric had been held in rapt attention with every human thing that I did although it had faded over time, the one thing that hadn't changed though was his fascination with watching me eat. It was a perfect source of entertainment for him and he would happily watch me whenever ever I was eating around him with a little smile playing at the edges of his eyes.

We walked into the living room where I set my plate and mug down on the hearth before settling down onto the fur rug. I hadn't liked the rug when I'd first discovered it was real fur but it had been explained to me that it was over a century old, had been killed by a hunter up in Canada and had been 'rescued' from the floor of an abandoned cabin. Basically Eric loved it and I hadn't found a cruel enough side of myself to tell him to get rid of it. I actually kind of liked it now because it was so warm. I switched the fire on, wrapped a blanket around my shoulders and turned to look at Eric, letting him know that I was ready. He was already sat opposite me, resting against the sofa with his bottle sat beside him. His legs were pulled up to his chest with his arms wrapped around them and his chin resting on top of his knees.

"I'll let you ask the questions. I'm not sure where to start otherwise." This was the most awkward conversation I'd ever had with Eric and I didn't like us, even when we were mad at each other it wasn't like this. It was another difference that told me he wasn't quite _my _Eric and it made me want him back even more. Pam had essentially said I was the key to helping him remember.

"How long have we known each other?" Well that as an easy one that I could answer easily.

"Just over two years ago." I took an Oreo off of the plate, split it open and sucked out all of the stuffing before eating the biscuit.

"We are dating, yes?" I nodded, my mouth stiff full and he continued. "Did we start out like that? Were we friends or was it arranged?" I barely kept the last remnants of the cookie inside my mouth at the last comment; I could just see Jason lining suitable suitors up for me and going down the line with a check list of requirements.

"It wasn't anywhere near that simple, in fact, I resolutely refused you for about a month but you were so stubborn!" I giggled at my recollection and a true smile spread across my lips at the generous gifts he'd given me to butter me up. It hadn't really worked though; it had been a conversation with Pam who made me agree to go on a date with him.

"Are we happy?" He actually seemed worried about the answer to that question.

"Yes, we're very happy. We have our fights like any couple but we're happy." I could feel tears welling up in my eyes at how content we had been just a few days ago; we'd been together long enough to be truly comfortable with each other but the relationship was new enough that we still couldn't keep our hands off of each other. I had a feeling though that it would be like that for a long, long time though, Eric was truly insatiable.

"Good." He nodded his head and a flicker of something even I couldn't read flashed across his handsome face.

"Why do you ask?" I picked up a chocolate digestive and dunked it into my coffee for a couple of seconds before taking a delicious bite. He was too lost in thought to be able to watch me eat.

"I wanted to make sure; you should always treat women with respect and be good to them. I treat you right?"

"Yes." I stared into his eyes as I said that, let him know that I was telling the absolute truth, I could tell that this meant a lot to him.

"How did we meet?" He unwrapped his arms then and let his long legs stretch out in front of him; he'd taken his shoes off and I'd never noticed. I finished my biscuit before replying.

"I was friends with Pam, the vampire we saw tonight," I added in just to make sure he remembered properly. "We'd met a few months before, and formed an unusual friendship which happened due to my old roommate Amelia. I came in the bar one night, annoyed because Amelia had stood me up for a late night shopping trip at the mall near the bar for Christmas presents. I walked straight in and ordered a large drink. You found me interesting and came to talk to me. I basically demanded to talk to Amelia and yelled at you when you wouldn't give me any answers. Essentially you thought I was highly entertaining and kept pestering me to go out on a date with you. I eventually said yes. Now, I'm very glad that you did keep on trying." I finished my coffee off and slid the plate and mug to the side so that I could stretch down on the rug without risk of knocking anything over.

"That sounds like a very short story." He thought I was keeping things from him, which wasn't my intention at all, I'd wanted to make a very long winded story short to stave off boredom.

"Everything important is there. Let's see. I was wearing my waitress uniform from Merlotte's because I'd had the afternoon shift which was why we were shopping at night. I had a bright blue coat draped over my arm and a white t-shirt on, which made me stand out like a sore thumb in the sea of black inside the bar. You were wearing pretty much exactly what you're wearing now."

"You can recall the details."

"Of course." I folded my arms and rested my arms on them, looking straight at him. This was much easier, so far, than what I'd expected. It was almost kind of nice to take this trip down memory lane. "You helped completely change my life, I can't forget that."

"I did." His voice was desolate and his eyes were down cast, staring at the carpet.

"Shit." I muttered quietly before clambering onto my hands and knees to go over to him. I laid a hand on his forearm which made him look up at me, a questioning look on his features. "I didn't mean it like that! If it wasn't for this curse, you'd remember it too. You used to tell me that you could style my hair in the exact same way it had been, to the exact curl, because you remembered seeing me so clearly. The light in the darkness. It's okay." I whispered the last part, squeezing his arm before relaxing back against the sofa, not bothering to move back to my earlier position.

"I can feel you more." He pointed to his head. "You're not as upset, you feel guilt." He was completely amazed at his own thoughts; he couldn't understand them at all.

"Yes, I realised some stuff earlier that's helping. I feel guilty for treating you bad."

"What are we to each other?" I'd been quite easily wading through waist deep water, now I was suddenly treading water in the middle of the ocean. This question was fraught with problems; I didn't want to scare him, I had to explain it fully and I had to get through it, knowing that he didn't know about out deep connection.

"We're bonded."

"You've said that before." He noted and I recalled when I'd first found him outside my old home, I'd stated it to him. My chest rippled with pain at that memory but I quickly squelched it down, letting happier memories flood my mind to keep my tears, which had sprung up in my eyes, in check.

"Yes. Do you know what it means at all?" He shook his head, no. "We've shared blood, the magic number is three. Three times you took a little of my blood and I took a little of yours. It gives us a strong, unique connection to each other. That's why you can feel me." I pointed to my head and to my chest; the two were so strongly interlinked when it came to bonding. "We reconnect, exchange blood again, when the affects begin to fade or when we want affirm our relationship. It's amazing; sensuous, sexual, intimate and it means we can just be _us_ for a night without any interference from anything else."

"What's the significance of the bond?" He was staring at me so intently now it felt like he was committing my very pores to memory.

"It's quite rare; it shows a deep level of trust, love, loyalty. Few people gain it and maintain it. It's only possible between human and vampire couples as well. It doesn't work with vampire couples, though there are much fewer of those." He nodded and absorbed what I'd told him. I felt like it wasn't enough, that I should have explained it more but most of what our bond meant to us couldn't be expressed with words, it could only be felt or shown, and I wasn't about to do that. I couldn't let myself be so defenceless with him, I trusted him still, but I was too raw.

"We live together." I nodded, he already knew that. "We're bonded." Another nod. "We've been together for two years but we aren't married." I couldn't decide whether I needed to nod or shake my head at that one so I verbally respond.

"That's right."

"Why aren't we married if we're living together? That doesn't seem right somehow." He almost looked ashamed at what we were doing, well his full self and me, shacking up together. It was a complete turnaround from the vampire that had tried to get into my pants as much as possible from the moment I'd first met him, he was still trying that now, when he was himself. Cohabiting had definitely not been an issue for him before.

"Well, it's not really that easy. We're a vampire, human couple and those marriages aren't legal in Louisiana. In vampire terms though we're married, or essentially at least. We're bonded which is more than enough of a sign of a commitment. It's enough for me, I enjoy what we have and living together without being married really isn't a problem for me." It would have been though if I'd been with a human man but that just wasn't an option due to my telepathy. It really was bliss being around blank vampires, I would never tire of the peace and I would always be grateful for it. It did however, get a little irritating sometimes. It would certainly have been helpful in these past couple of nights.

"Have I ever asked you to marry me?"

"No, it's not legally registered so it's not an issue."

"Surely there are states where it is recognised."

"Well yes." I hadn't realised that before, I'd always been completely content with my blood bond and our home together. It still didn't bother me though, marriage was a state of mind type situation, living together and sharing your lives, I already had that. I didn't need a certificate of marriage to prove it.

He was oddly silent for a few minutes and when I glanced his way I found his bright blue eyes were fixed on my face still. His eyes kept flickering from my eyes to my lips, never linger for more than a few seconds before moving on.

"Can I try something Sookie?" There was just something about him in that moment, so open and defenceless that made me want to say yes to anything.

"Depends on what." I smiled softly, letting him know that everything was okay.

"From what I gather, my memory might come back if I try hard enough and I have things that were common, hold good memories for me. And Sookie, I want to remember you." A tear ran down my cheek at that moment, he was so sweet and it really touched my heart, helping to put a couple of small pieces back into their original place.

"What is it?" I asked, encouraging him to get to the point.

"I want to kiss you." My breath caught in my throat but I couldn't say no to him, not when he'd just said he wanted to remember me. He had nothing to go on except my words and he believed in us already. And it was true; if we kissed it might spark some form of recognition in him.

I slowly leant over to him, placed my hand gently along his cheek relishing the feel of his slightly rough chin under my hand. His gaze flickered down from my eyes to rest on my lips, not moving now, and he watched with widening eyes as I leant across to him. My eyes shut lightly just before our lips met. It was wondrous feeling his lips against mine, the cool skin against my heat flesh. It was tender and sweet, no haste for anything. We took our time, moving slowly against one another. My tongue caressed along his bottom lip and his mouth opened, letting our tongues slowly move together, exploring. It was a first kiss for us all over again. At some point his hands had reached up to cup my face. Hope fuelled us both and it was with reluctance that we both pulled back slowly, our lips lingering even when our tongues had retreated. He tasted delicious, he smelt gorgeous, and he felt delicious, he was my vampire whether he could remember that or not. So with hope I let my eyes open to reveal if it had sparked anything.

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**So what did you think? You know I love feedback almost as much as I love a certain Viking vampire. Just to let you know the next chapter is a flash back scene of when they first met and how they got together, I know the explanation isn't very good in here. The scene just didn't work very well in the middle of all this. Hope you don't mind. Thanks for reading. *hugs***


	8. Memories

**Hey guys, **

**So here's chapter eight and Sookie is being a bit better than she has been. I'm sorry I didn't get to update last night, family problem and had to go up to the hospital. Everything's fine though, complete false alarm and so I had everything written down on paper because hospitals are boring. I almost went stir crazy when I was in for three months a couple of months back, the highlight of my day was seeing the trolley lady where I could buy the newspaper and a chocolate bar or something. Anyway, enough of me, Charlaine Harris owns the wonderful Southern Vampire Mysteries. **

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_His eyes remained shut for a couple more seconds and I could see simple, pure joy on his face and he was completely relaxed now and it reminded me of the many events that had led up our first, first kiss. My eyes shut again and I got sucked down into the memory._

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_

"Hello, can I help you at all?" A deep almost growly voice asked me, coming from over my left while I was looking to my right in search of my friends. My head snapped around to find my possible saviour and all I found was a chest, a rather broad muscular chest that held the pale luminous glow of a vampire. I trailed my eyes upward, a significant distance as he was ridiculously tall, until I found a pair of sparkling, intelligent blue eyes that shade of blue I'd always imagined the ocean to have in the summer. He was handsome in a way that I'd never seen before. Long thick hair, that I immediately wanted to run my fingers through trailed over his shoulders and I assumed down his back. It was white blond, a shade you rarely saw on anyone over the age of five and it was much lighter than mine. His eyebrows were the exact same colour too. Perhaps he should have looked feminine instead he screamed masculinity; perhaps it was the straight nose, the sculpted jaw or the well defined muscles everywhere. It was only then that I realised I hadn't yet spoken.

"Hi, I'm looking for my friend Amelia, have you seen her?" I was speaking rather loudly to make sure I could be heard over the pounding rock music.

"I don't know anyone called Amelia, but I'm Eric, what do they call you beautiful woman?" He smiled at me showing a perfect set of white teeth, fangs retracted I was pleased to find. If it had been any other night I may have amused him, perhaps even flirted yet I really wasn't in the mood and I did have to find Amelia, Pam too for that matter.

"I'm Sookie Stackhouse, perhaps you've seen Pam then?" I pulled my eyes away from him to scour the bar again in search of my friends.

"Pam I do know, I also happen to know where she is. I'll take you to her, but I would like to buy you a drink first." He didn't pose it as a question and it was enough to raise me from frustration to a stronger emotion. If you were going to ask a girl to go for a drink, you should actually ask, not state it.

"No thank-you. If you could just tell me where they are, please." I may be a little angry but it wasn't his fault, not really, and my grandmother would have turned in her grave if I was rude to this man.

"You actually refused me." A broad smile stretched across his lips and I could just about hear a deep chuckle that rumbled in his chest. "You are a strange one." I had a feeling that he didn't intend it as an offensive remark, if anything it was more of a compliment. "I'll take you over there." He grabbed my free hand, the one that wasn't clutching my old battered blue coat and placed it on his forearm. He gave me one more mischievous grin before leading me through the already bustling crowd which yielded in his path and was also a complete sea of black. I must have really stuck out like a sore thumb dressed in my work uniform carrying an outdoor coat and looking utterly lost. "May I ask why you're dressed like that?"

He wasn't being malicious at all; he appeared to be genuinely curious which is why I answered him honestly. Before I did though I managed to smile to myself; I couldn't dip into his mind to find out his true intention because he was gloriously blank like all vampires and unlike all humans.

"You may. I came straight from work to meet Amelia but she kinda stood me up." I was slightly bitter about that, I'd made it to twenty five years of life without ever being stood up, probably because I never dated anyone to get stood up. Sure I tried, but dating isn't much fun when you can hear ever sleazy thought running through your date's head, so I could count on one hand how many dates I'd been on, with fingers to spare.

"Such a beautiful woman shouldn't be stood up." I purposefully ignored the compliment as if I acknowledged I was likely to blush embarrassingly. "I would never do such a thing." We were heading toward the back corner and I could see two very familiar people stood against the wall.

"Still no." I told him firmly, hearing a small chuckle again, and dropped my hand from his arm to move forward ahead of him. I'd almost lost him to the crowd when I remembered I hadn't shown my appreciation for his help so I glanced over my shoulder. "Thanks," I called out.

"Sookie!" Amelia squealed at me taking my attention away from the blond vampire.

"Hello Amelia, Pam," I greeted them both icily; I would be fine once I'd had my say but until then.

"Sookie," Pam replied and she placed a calming hand on Amelia that stopped her from throwing her arms around my neck as she tended to do.

"Where the hell have you two been?" I shouted at them, glaring at each in turn and getting two very different responses; guilt took over Amelia while Pam merely quirked one perfectly groomed blonde eyebrow at me.

"We lost track of time and Pam got called into work, I tried to call you but I couldn't get cell phone reception. I'm sorry Sookie." I absorbed all that she said, glaring for a couple more seconds just to make her squirm before softening and giving her a big hug. She was my best friend and roommate; I just couldn't stay mad at her. When she pulled back from me she slapped Pam's arm gently, prompting her to speak.

"Yes sorry Sookie." Pam drawled, for all the world sounding completely bored but that was just Pam and I didn't take it personally.

"I never thought I'd see the day two humans got dear old Pam to apologise." Eric broke into our little group, his chest heaving with laughter. He'd gained a bottle of synthetic blood and there was a glass of clear liquid in his other hand. "You two are priceless," he inclined his head indicating he meant me and Amelia. "This is for you, gin and tonic, thought it would be a safe choice." It was actually my drink of choice when I drank, not that it was very often. He placed the drink in my hand so I had to either accept it or let if fall to the floor. Needless to say I accepted it, or rather I half accepted it as I knew better than to accept drinks off of random men I'd only just met.

"I wouldn't have to if you hadn't called me into work on my night off. I blame you." Pam placed one hand on her hip, the only indication of her emotion as her voice was almost monotonous.

"Wait you Pam's boss?" Amelia asked while at the same time I asked;

"You own Fangtasia?" It caused us to glance at each other before giggling.

"Yes, Eric Northman, you must be Amelia. I'm the principle owner here." I would later learn that Pam and a bartender that I would have a sticky situation with had a percentage of the business too. "Why haven't you taken any of your drink?" He noticed that I'd popped the drink on the edge of a table just to my left while he was speaking.

"My grandmother always told me never to accept drinks I'd never seen poured when out." He chuckled again at me and I was beginning to get rather fed up of being so amusing to him.

"I wouldn't need drugs." He replied quietly, so that Amelia couldn't hear although since Pam was a vampire she undoubtedly could. "Pam take the rest of the night off, we got everything covered now." It was then that I began to feel the first licks of someone else's mind at the edges of my own, testing the waters and trying to gain entrance. I knew instantly who it was, vampires may be blanks to me normally but when they tried their hypnosis on me I could tell who was trying to gain access to my brain although I still didn't get any thoughts. I clamped my shields down, shutting my brain off completely to any outside access, pushing away the tendrils of someone else's control instantly. I'd learned how to do that when me and Pam had been experimenting with my telepathy one evening while we waited for Amelia to get ready. "What are you?" He asked me, turning to face only me and staring at my face intently. He was completely ignoring the other two but it was still Amelia who answered him.

"She's a waitress over at Merlotte's in Bon Temps, I work there too sometimes." Amelia was a cover waitress for us which helped supplement her actual job as a secretary for the local parish council.

"How nice." He muttered, but I knew that hadn't been what he was really interested. I was willing to bet that he'd never had anyone withstand his enthrallment.

"Come on Sookie, we probably can't get much shopping done but we still got an hour then we could get some tea." Amelia gripped my arm and began pulling me away from the vampire even though my feet remained planted on the ground as I stared back at him.

"What are you?" He whispered, again I didn't answer him. "You sure you don't want a drink? I'll take you to the bar with me." He was back to joking instantly, clearly amused with the situation but I shook my head and followed Amelia who had Pam trailing behind her too. The rest of that evening past by in a very happy blur, we made it to the shops and I managed to acquire several much needed Christmas presents and we even went for a quick meal, Pam just having a bottle of blood while she watched us eat intently. She even accompanied us back to the house where we watched some cheesy movies together, managing a conversation, although it was a little stilted, it was still good. I eventually left them alone and retreated to my room alone.

Three days later I was just walking back into my home after the evening shift at the bar when I heard the phone ringing. Amelia was in as her car was parked in the driveway but there was no sound of movement to make the shrill ringing stop so I rushed into the kitchen to pick up the phone.

"Hello?" I asked, wondering who could be calling this late.

"Hello. Can I speak to Pam please" The cool voice replied without offering up any other information. I didn't even know if Pam was here, she had been at dawn as the mental blank somewhere in the house had informed me but my shields were firmly clamped down now after my shift so I couldn't tell.

"Who is this?" I asked while taking my shoes off with one hand.

"It's Eric Northman. I was hoping I'd be able to find Pam at your house Sookie." Ah so he did know who was talking to him. It made me wonder how the hell he got this phone number.

"I don't know if she's here or not, I just walked in. Let me check." I dropped my shields enough to be able to place the mental spots in the house without hearing any actual thoughts and sure enough I found two in Amelia's room. "Yeah she is, I'll go knock."

"How could you tell so quickly?" he asked me, even over the phone his voice sounded considerably curious. The last thing I needed right now was a vampire courting me in the hope of getting into my pants. I'd remained a virgin for twenty five years not wanting to just have sex for the sake of sex; I wasn't about to through that away now.

"I could hear her," I replied without thinking too much, too late though I realised that you don't hear a vampire unless they wanted to be heard.

"How?" he asked inquisitively. I chose to ignore it though and banged harder than what I'd intended on Amelia's bedroom door which was actually upstairs.

"Amelia, is Pam in there? Cos I've got Eric on the phone." I called loudly before scurrying away to the top of the stairs. "She's on her way I think."

"Thank-you. Have you thought anymore about going on a date? I'd like to take you out." It was actually rather tempting; he was gorgeous and he was a vampire so it wasn't a strain on me mentally to be in his presence, yet I still managed to turn him down. It wasn't what I needed right now.

"No thank-you." I heard a door opening and Pam stalked out onto the landing, looking as dishevelled as I'd ever seen her, which compared to some states I'd seen certain people in, such as my brother, was rather prim and proper. "She's here." I handed the phone over quickly, not giving Eric a chance to reply and I quickly jogged down the stairs and got on with my evening, trying desperately to keep a certain blond vampire out of my head.

* * *

_My thoughts then skipped to a little snippet of Christmas morning which was only a little over a week after the phone call. I kept my eyes shut, just luxuriating in the relaxing sensation of his cool hands cupping my face. Our lips were so close there was barely a hairs breadth between us yet we didn't close the gap. I sank back into my glorious Christmas memory. _

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"Sookie, thank-you so much!" Amelia cried as she threw her arms around my neck to hug me tightly. I'd given her a selection of gifts that had all been wrapped up in the same blue box with a pretty ribbon that was now lying at her feet. In her lap she cradled a gift card for the new occult store in Shreveport, a spoof book on being a vampire, a hat, scarf and glove set that I'd seen on major sale and two DVDs of her favourite films that she hadn't acquired on her own. In return she'd given me a collection of Buffy DVDs a gag gift along with some clothes I'd loved when we visited Tara's Togs. She'd actually signed Pam's name on the tag along with her own name which had made me giggle a little too.

"Ooh look, there's one more present left." I turned around to look and sure enough there was one more parcel under the tree so I pulled it out and handed it to her without checking the tag. I'd already gotten all of my presents, even one from Arlene too that had been a pleasant surprise this gift must have been for Amelia.

"Sook, it's for you." She was bubbling with excitement, clearly knowing more about the gift than she was saying. With a frown on my face I took the gift back and read the label.

_To My Mysterious Beauty_

_Merry Christmas_

_E_

There was only one person that the gift could be from, Eric. He had given me a gift, I really hadn't imagined in my wildest dreams that he would do such a thing. He barely knew me; we'd spoken a grand total of two times, so how he could even know what to get me was beyond me. Curiosity got the better of me then and I quickly untied the blood red ribbon and pulled back the matching paper to reveal a cranberry red swath of material. When I pulled it from the paper a gorgeous coat was revealed to me.

The material was thick enough to keep me perfectly warm in the winter and so soft that I would only want to snuggle into it every time it was worn. It would hang down to mid thigh and from the cinched in waist, that didn't have a belt, it flared out in an A line. It was also double breasted with tortoise shell coloured buttons and deep pockets that would help to keep my hands warm, the collar would also turn up and still look good if I needed protecting from the wind. I instantly fell in love with it.

"Do you like it?" Amelia asked me, her chin resting on my shoulder so she could inspect it too.

"Yes, of course, it's wonderful! Why did he get me a gift though, and how did he know what to get me?" With her reaction earlier I would put big bucks on Amelia having something to do with it, I just wasn't sure of her part. "What did you do?" I accused, making sure I still had a bright smile on my face so she wouldn't think I was mad. I couldn't be mad when I had such a lovely gift in my hand, especially as it was something I desperately needed. My old blue one was definitely on the battered side.

"Very little, I was at the bar with Pam when he asked what sort of gift you liked and I said practical. After that he asked what size you were. He came up with the rest on his own." While she was speaking, back to sitting on her own side of the sofa, I'd stood up so that I could try the coat on, even though I was still wearing my pyjamas. It fit perfectly. I wasn't sure why he got me the gift but it was very sweet and he was definitely melting down my wards.

* * *

"Amelia, are you sure we have to go?" I whined again, knowing it was too late since we had just parked her car in the parking lot of Fangtasia. It felt wrong to not be working on such a busy night, I would however be paying for the night off over the next few days.

"Yes, you got New Years Eve off work, we spent hours getting ready, and we look hot by the way, so we're going in there and we're getting our groove on!" She laughed as we piled out of the car and linked arms to start queuing up with the rest of the crowd already waiting to see the New Year in with a bite.

"But I don't have anyone to kiss at midnight." I was no longer whining, not really, but it was a real problem for me.

"Nonsense, I'm sure you can find someone willing to kiss you." She winked at me but I already knew who she was thinking of without that gesture as that thought had already occurred to me. I was sure he would have a date, especially for such a big night and let's face it; he could have pretty much anyone he wanted.

We quickly found ourselves in the club and Amelia went off in search of Pam which left me alone to fend for myself so I did something I rarely did. I walked straight up to the bar and ordered Bud Weiser Lime. It wasn't a particularly girly drink but my brother had brought a box of the bottles over when he'd had a sibling night vegging out in front of the TV I'd loved them. The night was still young as well so I could always change onto something a little more appropriate later.

"Here you go, that's five bucks please." The bar tender who had seriously long black hair pulled into a pony tail at the nape of his neck leered down at me, somehow still managing it even though I had a feeling he was shorter than me. I stared back in shock; the drink shouldn't have been that expensive.

"It's on the house; she doesn't pay for a drink tonight." A deep voice stated simply and eased himself to lean on the bar next to me without knocking into the people sat on the bar stools. It must have been quite a feat for his massive frame. "Sookie, you are looking radiant tonight." I grinned back at him; it was nice to feel appreciated given all the time it had taken to get ready.

The bar had taken on a theme for New Years Eve; through the ages. Basically you picked any time frame, dressed appropriately and partied like you would anyway. From what I'd seen of the vampires they were all wearing costumes from the era in which they were born. I had gone for the fifties as the dresses were so feminine and it was easy enough to get a dress like that. I was dressed in a slightly altered replica of a dress that my aunty had worn; I'd made it myself after seeing the photo of it.

The underneath silky part was pale pink and over that a lace coating covered it so that you could barely see the underneath, just getting a peak when I moved of the real colour. The neck line was heart shaped and cut low, lower than the original as I'd wanted, on a bit of a whim, to show off my cleavage because I never did. There were slight arms built into the dress, effectively only covering my shoulders and they were only made out of the top layer of lace which had a rose flower pattern embroidered into it. The dress came down to my waist, flaring out quite large from the belt that defined my small waist. The black shoes I wore had a three inch stiletto type heal with pink detailing and a pink bow on the front that matched the underneath of the dress.

"Thank-you." I smiled at him and took a sip from my drink.

"So now you accept, you know I could have bribed Long Shadow to put anything in there." He was teasing me, referring to the drink I'd refused when we first met.

"You could but you wouldn't."

"Why's that?" There was a smile making his lips twitch; he was rather amused with me.

"You got me a wonderful Christmas gift, thank-you for that I love it, so you wouldn't go to all that trouble to butter me up only to take the easy way out and spike my drink." He full on laughed at that and I couldn't help but giggle along.

"You're right, I'm not known for taking the easy option. Shall we get a booth?" I nodded, following in his wake before I even realised what I was doing. From my view of just behind him I could take in what I was wearing and I was completely shocked. He was also very hot.

I pegged the attire as Viking, although I couldn't be really sure, I would have to ask him, though I was certain that it was centuries old. A deep red cotton tunic was covering his torso, hanging down to mid-thigh and there was a leather belt tied around his middle that held an honest to God scabbard with a sword inside it. It looked real as well, not that I really know much about weapons, which was a little bit of a scary thought. There was an animal fur wrapper around his shoulders, fastened in the front with a large metal clasp that had been ornately worked; it would have looked at home on a woman's broach. His leather shoes looked soft and weren't substantial enough for wear in modern life but he seemed comfortable enough and more leather and fur covered up his calves, tried on with thongs of material. When he held his arm out to an empty booth, indicating I should sit, I saw that a good half of his forearms were covered with stiff leaver cuffs that had a design that I couldn't quite make out etched into them.

"What are you dressed as?" I asked loudly, once again trying to be heard over the music.

"I'm a Viking, born and bred." He grinned at me, held his arms open in invitation for me to ogle which I actually accepted before he sat down opposite me where a bottle of blood had appeared. "Don't worry about shouting, I can hear you." He tapped his ears and I realised his vampire senses were good enough to distinguish noises even in this din. "You've gone for the fifties?" And so our conversation carried us until at about half past eleven he was pulled away by a vampire who said there was the beginning of a brawl happening just outside.

I couldn't believe my luck; he didn't have a date. Well, he didn't have one as far as I'd known and no date would have let him talk to me for the past three hours without saying something. We'd been flirting and I'd discovered that I really enjoyed his company. He was fun, smart and he was blissfully quiet as far as my telepathy went. I sat by myself contemplating and watching Pam and Amelia flirt with one another. I wouldn't peg them as a couple if I didn't know them, Amelia was so open and Pam was reserved which was quite an understatement. Yet they managed to balance each other out and they were surprisingly good with each other. All too soon the live DJ, well technically dead DJ, cut off the music and asked everyone to move onto the dance floor as the countdown to midnight began. Even with no partner I'd rather be out there in the crowd than sat alone at a booth, the only person there sat down.

By the time six came around I was beginning to panic a little at what I was going to do, I'd even considered grabbing a random guy who was nearby and just planting one on him as the clock struck. I couldn't do it though. Just as the crowd chanted five a handsome vampire stood in front of me and I didn't have to crane to see him properly due to the ears, I simply glanced upward.

"Just in time." He smiled at me and I found myself grinning back. He placed his hands on my waist and pulled me into him. As soon as I came into contact with his strong chest my hands trailed up him to rest at the back of his neck, twisting his loose strands of hair around my fingers like I'd wanted to do when I first saw him. "Ready?" He asked, a twinkly in his eyes that didn't even hint at the centuries he'd seen.

"Of course Eric." I replied and began counting again with the crowd. "Three, two, one." We leant into each other like we'd done it a million times before, so that our lips could meet. Just as we were about to touch, we whispered, "Happy New Year," to each and then our lips finally met.

It was slow, tender yet still managed to carry a lot of passion that I couldn't understand and wouldn't until much, much later. Our lips moved together in perfect rhythm kissing open mouth until I latched on his bottom lip, gently pulling it with my own lips. Our tongues met and shivers ran down my spine as we caressed and explored. It ended all too soon when everyone around us began to yell and shout, party poppers going off around us to add to the din. All I wanted to do though was kiss the vampire again. As though he was the telepathy, he carefully cupped my chin with his hand, and tilted my head up so that out lips could meet again.

_When I opened my eyes after my vivid recollections I found his gorgeous blue eyes staring back at me, taking up my entire world and in that moment, right there I knew with every fibre of my being that I had to be there for this man. I loved him and what had happened didn't change any of that, I had to be there to take care of him and I would be. He would get better with my help, and if he didn't, he'd be falling in love with my all over again. His eyes were softer now, less confusion marring them and I could tell that he was completely relaxed. My eyes fluttered shut and I kissed him again, pulling him against me powerfully._

_I only stopped when I had to get oxygen or pass out. I smiled at him through my pants and leaned into him further; wrapping my arms around his shoulders as far as they could go around his muscles and hugged him tightly. His answering grip was fierce around my waist but I relished it. I would be strong for him and I had a feeling that he would be strong too. There was still a burning question in me that I needed to know the answer to._

_"Do you remember?" I asked quietly because speaking any louder would break the moment even worse than asking the question in the first place would._

_"I'm sorry." He whispered right on back, rubbing one of his hands up and down my back in a very comforting gesture._

_"Don't worry." I replied quietly and we just sat there, hugging each other and staying strong because that's what the other person needed._

_When I was already half asleep I knew I had to get up and crawl into bed or pay for in the morning. So with that thought in mind I reluctantly pulled back and extricated myself from his arms which clung to me even when I was pulling back. "I have to go sleep. It's okay, I'll be in the next room. Just make sure you're safely tucked away by dawn. You can sleep in the bed." I placed a gentle kiss on his forehead and turned to leave the room without looking back. It wasn't a direct invitation, not really, but it was the best I could do, I was a work in progress. I was pretty much asleep by the time my head hit the pillow._

_Sometime later even though I was still on some level asleep I was aware of the bed dipping down as my vampire climbed in with me. Without conscious thought I rolled over to meet him, burying my nose into his chest and letting his scent whisk me into a deeper slumber. The last thing I was aware of was his arm wrapping around my waist._

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**So what did you think? You know I love feedback almost as much as I love a certain Viking Vampire. Good god, I finally watched Sunday's episode of TB, go Eric! Shame they couldn't have drawn that scene out a bit longer before the staking but still. Also, why did Sookie and Bill get back together? What the hell? Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, especially livesimple and Kat who I couldn't reply to. *hugs***


	9. Shower

**Hey guys, **

**How are you all doing? Here's the next chapter! You may hate me for this one, I'm sure you'll find out why when you read it. Nothing much to say today, it's a week until exam results day and I finally got my car fixed. Kinda boring today. Anyway, Charlaine Harris owns the wonderful Southern Vampire Mysteries and on with the update!**

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When I woke up very late the next morning the bedroom was only dim instead of the pitch blackness that I'd become used to since we'd started sleeping in the same bed. When I leant up on my elbows to investigate the source of the light and found that one of the curtains surrounding the bed was pulled back and the light was switched on in the bathroom with the door ajar.

The dead weight of a cool arm was still wrapped possessively around my waist; his hand was resting on my bare stomach as he'd pushed up the material of my shirt at some point. His face, completely relaxed and adorable during my sleep was pressed into the crook of my neck, a progression I hadn't been aware of before I awoke. It was in those few moments where sleep still fogged up the edges of my sleep I realised something so blindingly simple I hadn't even though of before; with no memories he had nothing to really call his own, I was his anchor to the real world and he was beginning to think of me as his.

With that thought still in my head I slowly eased out from under his arm to clamber down from the bed, and pad into the bathroom. I switched the show on when everything else had been taken care of and turned it on to an almost scolding temperature which was how I liked my showers. I stepped into the biggest shower cubicle I'd ever seen, in most homes it would probably have taken up the entire bathroom, but it made it perfect for sharing. We also had a gigantic bathtub which I thought was perfect for snuggling and it had an interesting effect of giving Eric body heat to rival a human, for twenty minutes or so anyway. It was when I was massaging shampoo through my hair that I recalled the last shower we'd taken together, probably only a week ago.

"_Lover," Eric called out from in the bathroom where I could hear the shower already running. I was lounging on the bed, exhausted as I'd only gotten back from Merlotte's ten minutes ago, I was seriously hoping my vampire was in one of his snugly moods. Perhaps he would even take a bath with me after the shower to rid him of the musky scent of the bar. _

"_What's wrong?" I called back lazily even though I knew through our connection that he wanted me to come into the bathroom. He was also purposefully shielding me from his emotions and intentions. I had a sneaking suspicion why though. Suddenly I wasn't quite so exhausted anymore. _

"_Come here lover," he growled though I could tell he wasn't in a bad mood that was his sex growl. I sprung from the bed and lightly stepped into the bathroom. It was a wonderful sight that welcomed me; wet, naked, Viking vampire complete with devilish grin He pulled the shower screen aside and physically picked me up with his hands on my waist so that he could immediately deposit me under the spray soaking me through. I squealed as the material clung to my skin in a horrible sensation yet still one that set lust darkening Eric's eyes. _

"_Just a little incentive," he chuckled as he stepped forward under the spray with me and began planting sucking kisses on my neck. _

"_You better get me out of these clothes right now!" I ordered, somehow managing to keep my composure when all I wanted to do was throw my head back and wrap my body around his._

"_As my woman wishes," he growled, accentuating each word with a nip that let me feel his fangs had already elongated. His hands grabbed the collar of my white shirt and he pulled, ripping the material from my body so that it landed somewhere near us and my bra quickly followed suit. I grabbed his hair then so I could meet his lips with mine, unable to keep from kissing him any longer. We kissed with fierce energy, forceful and domineering as we practically fed off of each other while our tongues explored the others' mouth. He pulled back enough to tease my bottom lip between his teeth, digging his teeth in enough to be walking the thin line between pleasure and pain yet not enough to draw the blood we both wanted him to take. _

_My hands wandered down over his smooth back until I reached his perfect butt where I eagerly dug my fingers into the flesh, making him grind against me and moan through his kisses to my neck. Then he began to lower himself to his knees, kissing his way down my body. He stared up at me as he kissed low on my stomach, just above the band on my trousers and it was pure desire that I saw. I'm sure the look was mirrored in my own eyes. His hands then deftly unbuttoned and unzipped my trousers before they got the same treatment as my shirt and my panties quickly followed, leaving me naked with him, the hot water streaming down over us. _

_He kissed further down my body using his skilful hands to open me up for him. He kissed, licked and my personal favourite sucked until my chest was heaving and my back was flush against the cold tiles for support. Just as I could see the blissful nothingness in front of me he stopped abruptly and began to stand. _

"_Urgh!" I moaned at the loss of contact, pulling on his hair to make him move faster. It was only when he was crouched down, eyes level with mine and our bodies pushed together as much as possible that he spoke. _

"_Do you want me?"_

"_God yes!" I whimpered back at him, rubbing myself against him to get the idea across. He chuckled, the sound reverberating in his chest. Then he kissed me deeply, our tongues instantly meeting as his hands wandered down my back, coming to rest on my bottom. I was picked up by his hands so that I was positioned just below his waist which my legs instinctively wrapped around. _

"_Then watch me," he whispered against my lips before pulling away so that we could stare at each other and he roughly leant me back on the tile. I could feel the tip of his gracious plenty at my entrance then he did what I'd been desperate for and began to thrust. _

"Fuck!" I practically screamed as I was thrown back to reality with a rather painful thud by the shrill ringing of the phone and I was forced to pull my hands off of my body. I ran out of the shower, thanking whatever reason I'd come up with earlier for putting the mats down on top of the tile floor; I usually forgot. I was still wrapping the towel I'd grabbed around me, dripping water onto the carpet, when I answered the phone that we kept in the bedroom.

"Hello," I stated, not bothering to keep the annoyance and frustration from my voice.

"Hey Sook, are you okay?" Sam's concerned voice greeted me and I quickly glanced at the clock; midday. This conversation wasn't going to be good.

"Oh hi Sam, yeah I'm okay. I'm really sorry I forgot my shift." I pushed aside the thick curtain surrounding the bed and perched on the edge of the mattress.

"It's okay I guess, it's not like you've done it before. I was more worried that anything." It was sweet that Sam was worried about me for missing work; at least I was ridiculously reliable. I'd been working at Merlotte's for about six years or since it opened as I couldn't quite remember the date. It also appeared that Sam didn't know about the trouble we'd been having, I'd assumed that Alcide or someone would get in touch with all of the local shifters.

"In general things aren't good; we've got serious problems over here for vampires and shifters. Hasn't Alcide been in touch?" I had to double check; I couldn't delve into his mind as my telepathy didn't work over the phone and Sam was a shifter so his mind was murky anyway.

"No, I haven't heard anything, what's going on?" His voice had gone from mild concern for me to outright worry.

"I can't tell you over the phone, just in case anyone's listening. I can come over and meet you, but I'm afraid I can't work though, you'll understand when I tell you and I'll have to be back before dark." I had a good four hours before nightfall if I left right now.

"Okay, I'll meet you halfway then. Do you know the cheesecake cafe just off of the highway?" Of course I knew where he meant and apparently so did my taste buds as I immediately sated salivating, I also recalled then that I hadn't eaten yet. Cheesecake for breakfast!

"Yeah, I'll see you there as soon as I can." We said quick goodbyes and hung up which left me alone, damp, slightly frustrated and clad only in a towel. Luckily though my hair had been thoroughly rinsed during my Sookie memory time and all I had to do was get dressed.

Five minutes later I was dressed, I'd teased a brush through the rat tails I had for hair and I was nearly ready to go. I just had one task left to do and that was to take care of my vampire. I'd already collected my spare cell phone, I was forever losing mine, and I placed it on the pillow next to him so that if I was running later I could contact him. I was still ridiculously apprehensive about leaving him alone even though he was dead to the world and I would be back soon. I leant down over the bed, stroked his long hair back from his handsome face and placed a lingering kiss on his forehead. I left then, not looking back and I quickly found myself climbing into the R8 so I could go and meet Sam.

I made it to the amazing little cafe in record time yet Sam had still managed to beat me, I had to assume that he'd managed to set off before me so I pulled into the vacant space next to his truck in the parking lot. When I walked into the cafe I bypassed the counter and went straight over to a waving Sam who was sat at a booth table near the back and thankfully not surrounded by anyone.

"Hey Sam," I greeted him as I took the seat opposite him. He already had a piece of cheesecake placed in front of him; it actually looked like Key Lime Pie and there was a diet coke bottle beside the generous dish.

"Hey, are you okay? You seem stressed." I'd been in front of him for less than a minute and he'd already found out that I was on edge, I'd forgotten quite how well he knew me.

"I am stressed but I'll be okay." The waitress chose that moment to come over the table and take my order; cinnamon swirl cheesecake with a diet Pepsi to drink. It was strange that this establishment served both brands; most places chose one and stuck with it. Fangtasia had previously been a Coke place but after learning of my preference for Pepsi Eric had the order changed. Most people didn't really seem to be able to taste the difference. There was of course some kept in stock to go with the mixed drinks though.

"So what's going off?" He asked me once I had my food placed in front of me. So I told him, everything that I could, even the closer details of the vampires as I knew I could really trust Sam. "Well that aint good chere," he summarised after I'd gotten the whole sordid tale out.

"Nope."

"So he really can't remember anything about _you?_" Everyone seemed to be getting stuck on that little detail as though they could believe he couldn't remember the other stuff but he had to remember me. It was kind of nice that people thought that way about our relationship.

"Not a thing, he says I'm like home to him, but we're trying to get the witches to reverse the spell for a lot of money we're going to send their way. If that doesn't work, we attack. We've got Weres on our side and I dare say a few local witches." I'd polished off my cake a long while ago so I was now sipping on a freshly ordered coffee, mainly so that we had a reason to still be sat here.

"You can count me in; just let me know if it comes to that." His words meant a hell of a lot to me and I reached over the counter to grasp his hand in mine, squeezing tightly to show him how much it meant.

"Thank-you." I wasn't the only reason he had for joining in the fight but it was still sweet. Sam had had a thing for me a while back, but he thankfully gotten over it and he was seeing someone from Monroe on quite a regular basis, another true shifter from what I could tell. "Erm, this is kinda awkward to ask about but what about my job? Do I still have one?" My eyes were down turned as I spoke, unable to see his face if he was going to reprimand me for skipping out on work.

"What? Of course you do! You missed one shift Sookie and you had a damn good reason for it too. I'll sort your shifts out until Eric's himself again."

"Thanks, I'm not sure if I could handle working as a waitress at Fangtasia." We both laughed at that even though I knew it was the honest truth. I'd occasionally helped them out when they were short staffed on short notice but I definitely didn't want to make it anything permanent; I hated the uniforms, the patrons weren't always very nice and the only thoughts on anyone's mind in their was sex. Plus when I worked the waitress shift there I was constantly near Eric without actually having to go to him. I preferred just lending a helping hand with anything when it was needed. That did make me wander what was going on with the bar, whether or not it was still opening.

"Just keep me informed. You better be getting back, have you seen the time?" I glanced at my watch and saw that it was only an hour until sundown. With how early Eric tended to rise I had better be getting back down.

"Right yeah, listen this is my treat."

"Sookie no, if it's anyone's treat it's mine." He pushed my hands, which were gripping the dollars, back from the table so I couldn't deposit the money.

"I ran my shift, I owe you. So let me pay. If anyone asks, say we split it. I'll talk to you soon." I stood up to go, gave him a swift kiss to the cheek to show my appreciation of him driving out all this way to speak to me, and left the cafe, not before taking another slice of cheesecake with me in a box. What could I say? I couldn't resist the calorific goodness. Eric had always said he loved my curves, not like some of the skinnier women around now, he wasn't afraid I would break with the softest of movements.

I got home in nearly the same time it had taken me get to the cafe. As soon as I walked in the front door I was swept up into a pair of very strong arms and an equally powerful chest that smelt like soap, laundry powder and my vampire.

"Where have you been?" His voice was laced with worry, almost breaking and I guilt washed over my instantly as I wrapped my own arms around his waist.

"I went to meet my boss, Sam, he's a shifter. He needed to know about what's happening and I also missed work today. I thought you'd be sleeping. I'm sorry." My hands rubbed soothing circles on his back as I rubbed my cheek on his chest, I wasn't sure if that movement was for his benefit or mine though.

"Don't leave me, please." He whispered into my hair which his nose was buried in and he was actually taking deep breaths.

"I won't, I promise. I'm sorry." I slowly grasped his arms, making them relax their grip on my slightly and when I could see his face I saw that his eyes were rimmed with red liquid. Shit. "Don't worry. I left my phone for you, I was going to call if I was past dark."

"I know, I found the phone I just didn't know how to use it." That thought hadn't crossed my mind, his memory of practical things like that seemed to be fairly decent, a few seconds to recall things maybe but he was managing fairly well.

"Oh." I replied eloquently and wrapped my arms around his waist again in lieu of actually replying. "How do you feel about going for that drive?" I asked after a few silent moments had passed between us, neither of us moving, just holding each other close.

"That sounds good." He responded and I felt his head nod above me.

"Okay, come on then." The sun had set in the few minutes since I'd been indoors and I could use the distraction as now that I knew the vampires in the area would be awake I began to worry about the meeting that Pam would be holding with the witches. It also reminded me that we had to stay pretty much out of sight; I knew the perfect place; an old abandoned industrial site that was now only used to store a few trucks. It was also where Eric had taught me how to drive the sports cars properly as they had so much more power than what I was used to.

I grabbed his hand and lead him outside before asking what could potentially be a rather silly question giving his state of memory. "Which car would you like to take?"

"Which one do you suggest?"

"Depends on what sort of drive you want." I'd become quite well educated on cars and their specifications since my time with Eric, I'd also come to love a great drive.

"I want to go fast." I laughed at that, he sounded like any teenager when requesting his car needs.

"We'll take the Cayman S then, it's a Porsche." I added, I pulled the key for the garage out of my bag and went around the back, Eric following on my heels. The door was already open when we turned the corner, revealing the garage that was separate to the house where we housed the less used cars. We were car snobs I'm a little ashamed to admit; our usual cars that we kept in the attached garage included an Audi R8 and an Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione. I grabbed the key for the car we wanted off the hook, pressed the remote lock button and proceeded to climb into the driver's side. Eric was going to drive but it would probably be best we were at the abandoned site when he did, just in case he was a little rusty. He didn't complain though and got in beside me.

As soon as we were off of the driveway he grasped my hand, like we had done last night, and I let him until we came to any point where I had to change gear. Eric had mastered driving with one hand entirely but I just couldn't, my reflexes just weren't that good.

"What were you telling your boss?" He asked as I drove down some back roads, simply cruising the car along.

"About the situation with the Witches. He's going to help us if it comes to any form of combat."

"What type of shifter is he?" He was staring out of his window yet his voice was still wonderfully clear.

"A real shapeshifter, he can be anything he wants." The cluster of buildings that had once been factories were just visible on the horizon; a dark mass of very little light in the backdrop of the city which was ablaze with artificial light.

"Does he like you?" He still wasn't looking at me though I could tell this question was more pointed and I got a wave of jealousy coming down the bond and into my head. It was the first really strong emotion I'd had from him since he'd lost his memory.

"He's my boss so yes and he's also a friend. He doesn't overly like me." I clarified for him and he finally turned to look at me but I was forced to keep my own glances to the corner of my eye since I was driving. "There's only you Eric." I smiled and gave his hand a squeeze. The next couple of minutes, the rest of the drive to the industrial estate, were spent in silence although a comfortable one. "Here we go." I left the engine switched on, just put the car into neutral and began to clamber out, leaving our hands connected until the last possible second. I'd thought before that contact with him would be painful but once I'd allowed myself the feel of him against me, it was quite soothing.

We were quickly buckled in on our appropriate sides and Eric was revving the engine while keeping the handbrake on. Then he flashed a grin at me and we were off, speeding down the straight road that ran behind all of the warehouses, with enough force that I was thrown into the back of my seat.

"You remember how to drive then." I laughed as we slowed enough to go round a corner which left me gripping my seat to stop from sliding all over the place. It had been awhile since we'd done this sort of driving together.

"Yes," he replied and I could tell just from his voice how happy he was and I understood perfectly. Without his memories he had very little control over anything that was happening to him, he was putting all of his trust in me someone he basically didn't know and now he was controlling a rather powerful machine that did his every bidding.

I gazed at him as we sped down another one of the straight roads, this one running down the front of the factories. His hair was pulled back in a pony tail at the nape of his neck with one of my hair bands which meant that I could see all of his face in profile. His blue eyes were sparkling in the dim light as they glanced every which way to assess what was going off on the road ahead. His lips were set into a permanent smile and it made him look even more gorgeous if that was at all possible. The muscles in his forearms were rippling every time he moved, bunching every time he changed the gear. He actually seemed to be really comfortable and almost himself, something I hadn't seen in quite awhile. It was only when he slowed down enough to look at me I realised I'd been staring at him for quite awhile.

"Are you okay?" He asked and I knew this wasn't my Eric, there was just something slightly off with his tone of voice.

"Yes, I was just watching you." I felt the blush blaze across my cheeks at being caught and I became aware of the car slowing even more so that we really were just crawling along.

"See anything you like?" He asked, complete with cheeky smile and eyebrow wiggle. I couldn't stop myself then, I threw myself across the gap between us, unclicking my seatbelt in the same motion so I could actually make it. My arms went around his neck, pulling both him down and me up so that our lips could meet. His lips were still smiling when we connected but it quickly dropped from his face as he kissed me back, all too focused on my lips against his to maintain that grin. I traced my tongue against his bottom lip, seeking entrance which he gave up with his tongue meeting mine. They caressed each other, massaging and lingering. His fangs ran down at some point and I just kissed around them or ran my tongue over them. His hands reached for my waist, pulling me even closer to him and I moaned slightly at the contact.

Then for the second time tonight a shrill ringing brought me back down to earth. "For god's sake! Twice in one night." I huffed as I pulled back from his embrace, back into my own seat fully. I was quite grateful I hadn't chosen the Lamborghini as with the bucket seats in that thing, we never would have been able to comfortably do that.

"Who is it?" He asked as I pulled my phone out from the depths of my bag and showed him the display. I knew he hadn't remembered anything, his reaction to seeing Pam's name, an indifferent shrug, was further proof. His question though had shown me that my Eric really was in there somewhere and he was still the man I loved, memories of me or not.

"Hello?" I asked even though I knew Pam wouldn't greet me. "What's going off?" I looked at the clock and saw that they couldn't have had time to hold their meeting; it was barely an hour and a half after nightfall.

"We're attacking tomorrow evening." She stated simply and all I could hear after that was my heart thundering in my ears from nerves.

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**So what did you think? You know I love feedback almost as much as I love a certain Viking vampire. Thank-you all for the wonderful feedback for the last chapter, you really improved my day when I read them all this morning. *hugs* Friday tomorrow which means weekend!**


	10. Lover

**Hello!**

**How are you all? Sorry I didn't get to update last night, got preoccupied. My parents finally told me that after about six months of talking together they're finally going to go and speak to someone about moves out the USA permanently (we already have a home in Florida that we go to as often as possible). The RVC where I hope to go to Uni has a qualification accredited with the American board of vet surgeons. Pretty awesome stuff, I'd always wanted to move out there and it'll be even better if my parents come too. Anyway, here's the update I think it's a little filler-ish but I kinda wanted it to be like that. Charlaine Harris owns the wonderful Southern Vampire Mysteries**

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"_We're attacking tomorrow evening." She stated simply and all I could hear after that was my heart thundering in my ears from nerves. _

"Why?" I asked after a few seconds during which I'd managed to calm my heart, helped by the cool hand that had gripped mine tightly.

"They turned up early for the meeting two of them and they'd brought us a gift." That just didn't sound like it was going to be a pleasant gift. I didn't bother asking though, I knew she would get to the explanation point eventually; Pam liked to play things up a little, sometimes she could be downright dramatic. "Two witches accompanied one of the waitresses into the bar, she'd been beaten bloody. Apparently they didn't like the idea of compromise." I couldn't even force myself to even laugh slightly at her drawl given the circumstance.

"Who was it?" I asked, I wasn't particularly friends with any of the waitresses; most of them disliked me on sight as I was so cosy with their boss, the vampire they all seemed to want but I still had a few of them that I liked.

"Ginger, we've got her in the hospital to get bandaged up; cuts, broken nose and a few fractured ribs. She'll heal but we're giving her the option to quit the job and we're paying her." The money pay off would be given for a few reasons; pay for her medical bills, compensation for injury during work and to keep her quiet about how she'd received the injuries. I didn't have to like it but I had to agree that it was necessary.

"Okay. What's the plan?" Better to know beforehand because I had an inkling that I would be involved in the plan, my telepathy could be useful in many situations, and they were my friends, as strange as that sounds.

"We're all staying at mine and Chow's house and we're going to be ready for first dark. We're meeting the Weres at a meeting point near to the warehouse where they're cooped up. From there we send a few scouts, assess the situation and essentially go in guns blazing. We're still to hear whether the local witches are going to be joining."

"Do you need me?" Even if I wasn't part of the plan I wanted to go to the meeting point with them, for support and so I could keep an eye on what was going on. I had a problem with that though in the form of a six foot four blond haired vampire who was currently clutching my hand.

"Yes, we want you to analyse the warehouse, see how many people we're dealing with and what they are." Oh shit, I thought emphatically, I'd known on some level it was coming but now my heart was threatening to break through my chest.

"Okay. Where am I meeting you?"

"I'll text you as soon as I wake tomorrow, we don't want details getting out too soon, just in case." She was mistrusting me she was just being cautious. With so much at stake I couldn't blame her at all.

"Okay."

"Where are you? I can here traffic in the distance." Oh we were so busted.

"I've taken Eric out for a drive, we're down by the old industrial estate on the outskirts of town, he can remember how to drive."

"Sookie, go home now. It isn't safe for you two to be out; we don't know if Eric could defend you." My pride ruffled at that, I could take care of myself. Well I could against any human and even some lesser shifters but vampires I didn't really stand a chance, even against baby ones. I had a feeling that Eric would defend me, I was basically his only connection to the world and his memory on that sort of thing seemed to be intact it probably wasn't worth risking it though.

"Okay. We will, fast as we can. I'll see you tomorrow." She hung up without giving any form of goodbye, as was customary, and I was left to worry about what the next night would bring.

"You heard?" I asked after a few moments of silence, Eric hadn't moved at all.

"Yes."

"Let's go home, you want to drive?" he would be able to get us home faster as he could dare to go faster, he had much better reflexes and he could simply handle the car better.

"I don't know the way," he replied weakly. I finally looked at where we were parked and found that we were on the opposite side of where we'd entered the estate, there was no wonder he wouldn't know the way from here even if he could do the reverse of the journey we'd taken to get here. With all the turns we'd taken while driving round I was a little unsure whether I could get back to the entry way, luckily I knew how to get out through the front.

"I'll show you." He smiled at me then and just like always it had that calming effect on me; I could feel my heart slowing, my blood pressure reducing as the power behind each pump reduced and I began to breathe normally. He took my hand then, brushed my knuckles across my lips and then placed it gently on his knee before easing the car into first gear and setting off. I didn't bother to remove it; I actually liked being connected to him even in such a small way. The journey back home passed rather quickly even though he was driving slower than he normally did, and it was rather simple to take him back home.

When we arrived home I walked straight into the kitchen to pop the kettle on for a lovely cup of tea and also popped a bottle of blood into the microwave for Eric before taking a seat at the table. Eric immediately sat down opposite me and the look of confusion that hurt to see was back on his face. I never wanted to see that expression ever again. We sat in silence, just watching each other and I felt like he was memorising every little part of me, until the kettle boiled and microwave pinged. I got the bottle first, shook it up with my thumb over the opening before placing it on the table in front of Eric before getting myself the drink. I also got the slice of cheesecake, this time double chocolate, out of the fridge before sitting back down.

"What are we doing tomorrow?" He asked quietly after taking a few rather large gulps of the blood; perhaps he hadn't had anything when I got back. I'd assumed because he was awake that he would have had something.

"I'm going to scope the warehouse where the witches are staying, it must be at the other abandoned site across town; in recent years Shreveport had suffered a down turn on manufacturing but it was definitely up and coming in more tertiary industries and the nightlife was definitely still booming.

"I'm coming with you." He stated.

"I don't know if that's a good idea Eric, we can't have you in danger."

"But I want to protect you." His voice was weaker now, unsure. He was being sweet though and it started to melt my heart, I had an overwhelming urge to give him a big hug.

"That's really sweet Eric, thank-you. But do you remember how to fight?" If he couldn't remember how to defend himself, let alone me, I couldn't let him come with us even if I somehow had to lock him in the house.

"I'm not sure," he replied honestly and he looked up into the corner, deep in recollections to see if he could come up with anything. "I have no memories of fighting but I can feel it in my bones if that makes sense, I just _know_ I can. My body remembers the motions." He smiled slightly at that thought, and he flexed his muscles to emphasise his point, with the size of some of his muscles it was quite a large point.

"Okay, you can come down to the meeting point but it'll be up to Pam to see if you can come with us. I'm not fighting anyway, I'm no match for a Were or a witch so I'll be staying at the meeting point. You can look after me there."

"Okay, I don't want to leave you."

"It's okay." Now that the heavy part of the conversation seemed to be over I grabbed my fork and began eating the rich goodness of the cheesecake; I thought I deserved a treat. Damn it was good. When I glanced up I saw something dark in his eyes, turning them a deeper shade of blue, they were almost burning into me though I didn't find him staring at my eyes, or at my chest, rather something in between.

"Fascinating." He murmured quietly so that I barely heard it.

"You like watching me eat?" I asked with a bit of a giggle, he was appearing much more confident tonight and as much as the more timid version of my vampire had its sweet upsides, I definitely preferred this more confident one.

"Yes." He stuttered out, his voice taking on the deeper growl that sent the muscles low in my stomach tightening and I remembered my shower from earlier where I'd been interrupted quite abruptly. I smiled at him; the corners of my mouth twisting into a cat that got the cream grin, I'm sure it appeared more like a smirk.

I scooped up another forkful of the cheesecake, even getting some of the base which I usually saved for last. The next thing I knew though, I'd only taken my eyes off of him for a second, he was knelt down beside me with the filling piled up on his index finger. I swallowed and then instantly opened my mouth, inviting him in which he immediately took. His finger popped into my mouth and I used my tongue to scrape the chocolate-y deliciousness from his flesh, sucking as I finished all the food. When my eyes popped open there was open desire in his eyes and I couldn't keep my hands off of him anymore. I was stupid before when I'd considered this cheating, he was the same man, he just didn't have all of his memories. He was still my vampire.

"What time is it?" He asked quietly, sounding as though he hated to ask it but also as though it was a compulsion he just couldn't deny. I didn't have a clue why he was asking.

"Just turned eleven." I replied after glancing at the clock that was high on the wall behind his back.

"Then you need to sleep." Why the hell did I need to sleep? I voiced that opinion to him immediately which earned me a little chuckle and a grin as he knew that I really wanted him in that moment. "I don't want you tired or weak for tomorrow. I think I can protect you but I'm..." he paused in his utterance to break eye contact with me and stare down at the floor, running his non sticky hand through his long hair which was now hanging free around his shoulders. "I'm not sure I can."

At his admission I slipped down off of the chair to join him on the floor where I wrapped my arms around his neck and cradled his head into my chest. I gently stroke the hair back from his face as he gripped my forearms with his hands, making sure that I didn't relinquish my grip.

"I have faith in you." I said softly, accentuating the statement with a soft kiss to the top of his head.

"How can you have faith in me? I don't even know myself." I sat down on the floor then, going lower from where I'd been kneeling and pressed my back up against the table leg and opening my legs wide. He instantly sat between them and pulled my arms around his waist before sitting back so that his back was flush with my chest.

"Because I know you and I know your heart. You'd defend me wouldn't you?" I rested my chin on his shoulder which was more than a little difficult considering how different in height we were but it was achieved when he slouched down a little. I'd never sat quite like this with him before; I'd always been the one being cradled.

"Yes, I think I would die for you." He whispered his voice fading as though he was only just realising the words as he spoke them.

"Then I'm safe. I trust you and I believe in you. You'll get your memories back, you'll remember me."

"I want to remember you. I can feel you inside me," he once again patted his heart and pointed to his head. "I always want to be near you."

"Do you trust me?" I asked. If he felt better when he was near to me then I could most definitely help him out and it would help my earlier situation too and I was likely to be asleep by a reasonable hour; his point about needing my strength may have been annoying but it was definitely the truth.

"Yes." He replied swiftly and sincerely. It was all the encouragement I needed.

I placed my lips on the exposed skin of his neck, and let my tongue dart out to lick the cool flesh followed quickly by my teeth as I nipped, drawing his skin into my mouth where I sucked it. Instantly his head fell back onto my shoulder and a gravelly groan emitted from his chest. My hands wandered over his chest feeling his hard packed muscles underneath while I continued to lavish his neck with attention. I moved my mouth, working up his neck and along his jaw line in open mouthed kisses until I was close enough to his mouth for him to turn his head to kiss me back. Our mouths met, already open, and our tongues wasted no time in getting intimately acquainted again; it seemed our interruption earlier had bothered him as much as me. My hands wandered back up to his shoulders, pushing on one side and pulling on the other, successfully getting him to turn around so that he was facing me on his knees between my legs.

His mouth never left mine but as soon as he was facing me his hands trailed over my body starting at my shoulders to sweep down over my chest, pausing at my breasts until he reached my inner thighs before working his way back up. I moaned into his mouth, loving his caressing touches. My back arched up into him and I felt the slight smile against my lips when he knew I was reacting this way to only him. My hands found their way up underneath his t-shirt to trail my nails lightly over the defined muscles of his stomach then his chest. Almost without realising it I'd pulled his shirt up, silently asking for it to be taken off. He only broke the kiss for an instant, teasing my bottom lip with his teeth as he pulled back, to remove the shirt and then he was back again, kissing me with newfound passion.

His jeans were quickly unbuttoned so that they rode deliciously low on his hips which was when I knew we had to go to the bedroom or end up laying down on the kitchen floor which wasn't one of my favourite places. When we'd first moved in together we'd successfully christened every room and over a short period of time every available surface as well, coming up with a mental list of our favourites such as the shower, the study and let's face it the good old fashioned bedroom. So it was with my hand on his chest that I pushed him back, going up to my knees too so he knew I wasn't trying to push him away. I began to stand and he followed without any need for a hint. He did rise faster than me which gave me the perfect opportunity to pull his jeans down revealing that he hadn't bothered with his underwear.

He didn't make any advance to carry my, like he usually did if we started out in an unsuitable room, instead I led him by the hand towards our room. During the little journey he stepped out of his jeans, leaving them on the floor wherever they fell. I'd only just walked into the hallway, my back turned to him when both of his hands found the bottom of my shirt and tugged upward sharply so it was with pure instinct that I raised my arms. My shirt was gone quickly and I giggled at the awed look on his face. It appeared that I would have the impressive job of being his first, just like he had been mine. I relished the thought.

My hands hit the bed quickly as I'd rushed the last few steps to the bedroom and I was just beginning to crawl up toward the pillows when strong hands on my hips stopped my progress. Glancing back I found his eyes glued to my bottom and his hands were finding their way around to unbutton my jeans. It was less than two seconds later that they dropped to the floor, along with my panties, after he'd pulled them down my legs leaving me as naked as him.

"Lay on your back." I whispered, lowering my voice into what Eric liked to call the perfect bedroom voice. It seemed to work on this version of him too as he launched himself onto the bed, slinked up to the top and proceeded to lie down on his back, his hands already reaching for me. I didn't need any encouragement though to clamber on top of him, situating myself on top of his gracious plenty that was more than ready for what I had planned.

Our lips met again as our hands explored and he finally cupped my breasts, massaging his fingers into the sensitive flesh causing me to moan as he gently squeezed my nipples. He was a complete natural at this apparently. Soon I left his mouth to trail lips down his neck, pausing every few inches to nip lightly which caused him to rub up onto me, creating friction that I was really beginning to crave. When I hit his chest my hands gripped the flesh around his nipples so that I could brush my teeth against his skin, grazing.

"Bite please, even just a little." He whispered into the night and I smiled against him; when it was such a little request he didn't usually bother with the please, he knew I wanted to do it anyway. I did as I was told and brought my teeth down over his right nipple, hard enough to indent the skin and bruise a human. That was all I gave him though before kissing further down his body, eventually reaching the blond hairs that led down from his belly button. I gripped his rigid gracious plenty with both hands, causing him to buck his hips, before easing the engorged tip into my mouth, swirling my tongue from the state.

I enjoyed every minute of giving him pleasure even though it sent desire surging through me that I could barely contain. I kissed my way back up his body, sliding my heated flesh along his cool skin as I went. His hands gripped my waist, pulling me up faster we were face to face and our lips met with fire. He moaned into me as he realised it was himself he could taste in my tongue. Suddenly I found myself on my back with a giant of a vampire looming above me, a devilish grin on his face. He didn't waste any time inching down my body; he just pulled himself down, situating his face at the junction between my thighs. The next thing I was aware before my eyes snapped shut with overwhelming pleasure, was a flash of blue eyes as his tongue licked me, delving deep.

"Fuck," I whispered with passion when my breathing had finally calmed down enough for me to be able to speak. Eric chuckled, his mouth still occupied by kissing and licking my flesh, simply exploring my body. "Come here." I added and instantly he moved up to lie beside me, needing no further hint about what I wanted. His left arm reached back behind his head, acting as a further pillow, whilst the other snuck underneath my neck to rest along my back. He pulled me to him then so that I was draped over his body and it was only then that he gripped the duvet to pull it up around my shoulders, keeping me warm, especially since I was snuggling with someone who had no body heat.

"Hmm." He sighed, actually taking a breath so that the motion was genuine; he sounded perfectly content without any of the uncertainty or confusion that had been plaguing him.

"Okay?" I asked, unable to form a full sentence as it required too much energy and effort.

"Perfect," he whispered back, his voice thick as though he was tired, at least were on the same wavelength. "We are intimate yes?" I wasn't entirely sure what he was talking then, he'd lost me, if he was talking about what we'd just done and were currently doing then the answer was most definitely yes. I had a feeling though he was talking about our usual life together, before he got magic induced amnesia.

"Yes." I replied before adding with a slight giggle, "a lot."

"Is it always this good?" This was dangerous ground to be walking on; it was definitely this good but if I was honest I didn't think anything could ever top our nights of bonding. Speaking of which he was firmer presence in his mind, I could feel him close to me, more than our physical contact.

"Yes." I settled with after only a second so he wouldn't get suspicious about my internal monologue.

"If that's true then I really wish I could remember you." I could see him grinning through the corner of my eye and I couldn't help but giggle again at his statement.

"You will remember, we'll get the curse reversed or I'll help you to remember. We could even create new memories." Of course I would retain all of my old memories and I would have to have him fall in love with me all over again but I wasn't giving him up. Not now that I'd come to my sense.

"Oh lover." He whispered before placing a sweet kiss to the top of my head. My breath had already caught in my throat though and my muscles had lost their languid grace; it had been several days since he'd called me lover, specifically we'd been in the parking lot of Merlotte's, it was just a couple of hours before he'd had his memory wiped.

"What did you say?" I asked in amazement, my voice taking on a very breathy quality and I spoke while leaning up onto my elbows so that I could see his face.

"I called you lover. Shouldn't I have?" He was back to doubting himself, uncertainty was clear across his handsome face and slight disappointment washed over me at the same time. He didn't remember.

"No, it's fine. It's just, that's what you called me before. It's your pet name for me." I explained, crossing my arms over his chest and then resting my chin on top of them.

"I'm not sure why I did, it popped into my head, it felt right. Can I keep calling you that?" He'd lost some of the fear from his eyes but he wasn't confident yet.

"Of course." I placed a chaste kiss on the centre of his chest.

"Hm, lover." He repeated, speaking slowly to test how the word sounded coming out of his mouth. "Do you have any pet names for me?" This might be a sore point for him.

"No, you don't like them."

"Why not?" This was going to be experiment time.

"Well honey, you don't particularly like being called sweetie but I don't think I've ever tried cutie or baby. What do you think darlin'?" He actually growled at me, I could feel the vibrations in his chest underneath me and I couldn't suppress my laughter.

"That's why." I settled back down against him, more to the side than before and used his chest as my pillow, letting the coolness soothe me and ease me down into sleep. Less than five minutes of him rubbing my back gently and intermittently sweeping back my hair I was asleep.

When I awoke the next day, or rather due to the time I'd actually fallen asleep, later the same day it was already early afternoon and probably only about two hours until Eric awoke for the night. The first thing I did was pick up the phone from the night stand, the curtains had been left partially open again with the bathroom light on, without getting out from under Eric's arm to call Sam.

"Merlotte's Bar and Grille, Arlene speaking." Her voice sounded strange and it was only later, in the shower, that I realised it was because until that point I hadn't spoken to her for more a customary greeting or a pass the order, for about six months. About the same time that I'd moved in with Eric; we'd been on the outs long before that, she didn't agree with vampires being part of the community and I whole heartedly did. Something about being different had alleged me to their side since they'd come out of the coffin.

"Hello Arlene," I greeted her, keeping my voice light and as cheery as I could so that things would remain at least civil. "Can I speak to Sam please?"

"Who is it? He's kinda busy right now."

"It's Sookie, it's really important or I wouldn't have called." I crossed my fingers on my free hand, praying that she wouldn't go off on one.

"Fine, but if he's mad it aint my fault. Also where the hell were you?" She asked referencing last night's missed shift that I'd supposed to have shared with her.

"We had a few problems..."I started out but I was cut off before I could get any further.

"Alright, alright, I don't wanna know about any problems you and your vampire have. Here's Sam." There was an indistinct thumbing sound as the phone receiver exchanged hands and then Sam greeted me on the other end.

"Hey Sam, you still want in with the shifters and vamps?" My free hand began to swirl the hairs on Eric's cool arm which was sprawled across my stomach again.

"Yes, just give me the details." He sounded resolute.

"We're meeting at first dark, or as close to it as possible, just outside the disused industrial estate on the north side of Shreveport. I don't know any specific details yet but I can text you as soon as I find out myself."

"That sounds fine, I'll head in that general direction this evening then I'll meet you there when I get directions. Right, I gotta go, I need to finish the books if I'm coming tonight."

"Okay, thanks Sam." We exchanged goodbyes and I clambered out of the bed as soon as I'd hung up.

When Eric arose later, pretty much the time that I'd estimated, I had a bottle of synthetic blood in the microwave and I was all ready to go; I was dressed with stealth and ease of movement in mind, I had a small back pack ready with things I might need such as a bag pack, blood bottles, and my hair was scooped back into a pony tail. The latter I couldn't quite decide whether I'd done so soon for practical reasons or because it was a nervous habit of mine. As soon as he walked into the kitchen, fully dressed including his jacket and boots, he grabbed the bottle of blood and sat down beside me where he reached for my hand.

"You ready for this?" I asked him quietly, I knew I wasn't ready for this although I severely doubted I ever would be.

"Of course lover," he replied sounding very much like my Eric, the one that was always ready for a fight although tending to not actually go looking for one. Apparently he'd mellowed a little over the past hundred years, his age meant that very few vampires were worth fighting, according to Pam and when the vampires came out of the closet the affect had only been heightened. "Are you?" I knew that the attack as we'd been referencing it could very easily turn into a slaughter, and as far as I could see go either way depending on the specifics of what we found. I knew that people would be lost tonight; I just didn't know whether they would be lost from my side or the opposition.

So it was with a resigned sight that I replied. "As I'll ever be."

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**So what did you think? You know I love feedback almost as much as I love a certain Viking vampire. Thanks for all the feedback from the last chapter, much appreciated, now keep on making this writer happy :)**


	11. Fight

**Hey guys, **

**How are you all? I'm pretty good, birthday party tomorrow so I'm not sure if I'll be updating; I don't have to drive home as I'm staying at a friend's house so I'm going to be having some good old alcohol. Four days until A level results day and when I find out if I've got a confirmed place at uni. Anyway, Charlaine Harris owns the wonderful Southern Vampire Mysteries**

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Instead of taking one of the sports cars we piled into the Porsche Cayenne Turbo because of the extra room and we could actually safe drive it over more than gravel while maintaining performance. I slipped into the driver's seat, Eric didn't make a sound at that, he simply jumped into the passenger seat and stared out of the windshield with a determined expression. Pam had text me the address along with the directions which I didn't actually need as I knew the little park that she was talking about; a small children's playground that had long since been torn down as it overlooked a cemetery, it wasn't exactly something you wanted your children to see when they were playing happily. It was only when I slowed down; driving through a housing estate to get to the playground that Eric grasped my hand, holding tightly.

"Are you okay?" I asked curiously, he'd been confident about this last night and I couldn't understand this change about.

"Yes, I'm a little apprehensive." I raised my eyebrows in speculation so that he would explain further. "I have, the best way I can think to describe it is an itch in my muscles, I want to move. I'm more than ready for this." I smiled at that, this was another part of the real Eric shining through, ready to stand up and protect what belongs to him.

"That's okay, just stay close okay." I may not be able to exactly help him with anything but I did want to keep an eye on him, as strange as that might sound. We stopped speaking then as we came up to a long line of cars parked in the cemetery entrance which had a half circle drive with a patch of grass separating it from the main road; I parked behind the truck that I recognised as Alcide's before getting out. Eric was beside me before my door had even clicked shut and we walked hand in hand towards the group that had gathered just inside the tree line. I couldn't actually see anyone but I could feel their brain signatures.

"Sookie, Eric," greeted Chow from beside us, almost making me jump; he would have if I hadn't already been searching for people using my telepathy as it was, I just wasn't entirely sure which vampire was coming towards us. As was customary for someone in his position he gave a deep head nod toward Eric and completely ignored me which was pretty normal for Chow. I didn't have a very good track record when it came to bartenders at Fangtasia; three had been killed indirectly by me. There had been the attack from Longshadow when I'd discovered it was him stealing money from the bar and Eric had quickly staked him in my defence, Clancy had tried burning down my house back when I was still living at home as revenge for Longshadow and again he'd been staked. The most recent had been a rather creepy vampire by the name of Bill; he'd tried hitting on me, been discovered as spy for the vampire Queen of Louisiana and had been tried, convicted and staked for that as well as some other crimes I'd didn't fully understand. It had been me that uncovered him as a spy so I couldn't really blame Chow for keeping his distance.

"Hello," we both greeted him and continued to walk towards the rest of the group who were now just about visible in the shadow of the trees. Some of the Weres had already shifted as a few magnificent wolves were stalking around them.

"Mostly everyone is gathered, we're just waiting for a few late arrivals from the Weres, and the witches have joined us though there aren't that many of them they seem powerful enough."

"The plan still the same?" We were within the shadow of the trees that spanned the distance between the playground and the cemetery, the only barrier as there was no actual fence.

"Yes, as soon as everyone is here we're sending the scouts forward." We came to a stop beside Pam and as soon as we did Chow disappeared in the undergrowth in search of something.

"Eric, Sookie," Pam greeted us and she was dressed like I'd never seen before; black tight jeans, black ankle boots, a black long sleeved t-shirt and her dark blond hair was pulled up into a pony tail. She actually resembled me and she actually half smiled when she saw my attire too. She did the deep head nod, actually incorporating me into the gesture; something I'd noticed that she'd been doing recently when we were in any form of public domain.

"Pam." Eric replied, stating her name as though he was proud of himself for remembering her from the other night. He was trying to piece some of his life back together. It was only then I remembered that he wouldn't have had any idea who Chow was. Shit.

"Who's here and who isn't?" Might as well get straight down to business, the night wasn't getting any longer.

"The local witches, the vampires who can fight suitably, your shifter boss and most of the Weres. We're just waiting for one more car from the Weres. Any developments?"

"Not really." It wasn't the time or the place to describe the detail that would be required to explain his usage of 'lover' and how he could remember how to fight.

"Lover, what do you do now?" Eric asked, causing Pam to quirk one perfectly groomed eyebrow. I guess that was a simpler way of explaining.

"I wait for the people who will be accompanying me then I go toward the building, I guess see how many people are in there, determine what they are then hightail it outta there." I glanced to Pam for confirmation and got a head nod in acknowledgement.

"I'm coming with you." He stated stubbornly looking directly at me.

"You should stay here, I'm coming back here straight away, before the others leave. Then you can help me back here while they get back."

"I'm coming with you."

"No." Exasperated and knowing he could be far more stubborn than me at times, I turned back around to face an amused looking Pam. "who's coming down there with me?" I could have sworn I heard Eric mutter 'me' under his breath but I chose to ignore it; there wasn't much I could really do to stop him anyway.

"Two of the tracking Weres, your boss and two witches." With that she turned on her heel and left us alone, it didn't last very long as a huge dog bounded over toward us. I didn't know the dog but something just told me it was Sam.

"Dean?" I asked, dropping into a crouch as soon as the dog was close enough. My answer was a rather sloppy lick across my forearm. If I had to state which breed of dog he'd transformed into I'd say Alaskan malamute; rather fluffy but with a double coat, very similar to a husky but sturdier and overall larger. Quite frankly he was adorable; I think I actually preferred this appearance over the collie he usually transformed into. "You ready to go boy? You gunna stay with Sookie?" without conscious thought I'd sunk down into my talking to animals voice and I couldn't help but give him a good old tickle behind the ears; something in my brain just wouldn't allow me to treat the animal like Sam.

When I stood up I allowed myself the time to take in everything that was going off around me. There were three main clusters of people, surprise surprise, they were arranged according to species; the vampires were to my left, the Weres to the right and the witches even further to the right. I was surprised to see Holly, a part time waitress at Merlotte's stood amongst the witches, and she even gave me a shy little wave which took me a split second of shock to respond. I knew all of the vampires, all of the permanent staff at the bar and about four of the part time staff that just showed up for a few hours a week to maintain the reputation of the bar. The Weres were a little problematic to recognise considering about half of them were now in wolf form, including Alcide who I recognised as the massive black wolf sat down on his haunches, waiting patiently.

"Sookie," Pam called out, not raising her voice as it carried clear through the trees. I immediately went over to stand beside her, Sam trotting at my heel and Eric shadowing my other shoulder. "Everyone's here, the building where they are is straight ahead through the trees; take the dog with you he can direct. Stay low, stay quiet and get as much information as you can, come straight back. If anything happens to the others, come straight back. We'll already be on our way out there. Now go and good luck." She placed her hand on my shoulder, gave it a gentle squeeze then turned me around in the direction I had to head, I half expected a slap on my butt from her but there wasn't one. "Oh Eric." Pam called after I'd gone about ten feet and the cool presence beside paused midstride to see what she wanted. "I need to talk to you." This must be Pam's way of not getting him to follow me down to the frontline as such.

"Sookie," he whispered, placing his hand on my wrist to stop me from walking off.

"I'll be fine; you better go see what she wants." I rose up onto my tiptoes and gave him a sweet peck on his cheek before striding off with Dean just ahead, leading the way. I was surprisingly calm about the whole thing; I think numbness had actually overtaken me so it was with no thundering heart that I stepped through the undergrowth.

The ground was getting thicker with fallen leaves and twigs, the recent rainfall made it slightly soggy underfoot and reduced the noise that we made, even so I was definitely the noisiest of the group. I couldn't see the witches, they'd cast some form of spell that made them elusive, not invisible as when they were stood still they were only hazy around the edges, in movements they were barely a blurry patch. The wolves were loping gently around us in wide circles while they kept their noses to the ground. I was actually amazed at how fast Dean was moving; his nose was barely an inch above the ground, his eyes squinted so that he could make the most of his sense of smell so that he could hardly see.

The canopy above was also getting thicker, blocking out the moonlight which made me think of something else. It wasn't the full moon; we must have the most powerful Weres with us as they were able to change without the added power of the moon. I pushed the thought to the back of my head as soon as it had reached its end in favour of concentrating more on where my feet were planting themselves. Even so when Dean suddenly slowed to barely a crawl I almost walked into the back of him. A quiet, high pitched whine was emanating from his throat and he was staring up at me with wide, pleading eyes.

"What's wrong I whispered?" bending down to place my hand on his head, rubbing the fur there gently. The next instant a strong arm wrapped itself around my waist and before I could scream, it was still only a thought; a cool hand covered my mouth.

"It's me lover," Eric's deep voice whispered in my ear and I instantly relaxed. "You won't scream?" He asked me and when I shook my head from side to side he released my mouth, then slowly withdrew his arm from my waist. The noise from Dean had stopped at some point during the couple of seconds' interaction but he was still staring up, this time at Eric with a disapproving glint in his blue eyes.

"How did you get here?" I whispered as quietly as possible as we began to move forward again to catch up with the others that had gone ahead, not noticing that we'd paused.

"I evaded Pam; the others were too scared to question me. I wasn't going to let you do this on your own." He grabbed my hand, lacing our fingers together, and walked beside me so close that our shoulders were brushing together.

Just up ahead the two witches were stood in our path, the wolves were just ahead of them crouched down low to the ground and their hackles raised. Silently we came to stand just behind them, the proximity revealed what they could see; the trees were beginning to thin, letting more light seep through the evergreen trees and revealing the looming metal sides of a partially converted warehouse. At least we knew we were in the right place.

The whole place stunk of power and energy, nothing that I could specifically single out just the mix of the air that screamed stay out, get away. The metal siding was about three storeys high, painted dark blue although most of it was it was faded and peeling now. There were no windows on this side apart from on in the far left corner where there was a human sized door that probably indicated it was used an office area. I knew that this industrial estate had begun to shut down about five years ago with some companies moving onto bigger sites and the last building had only shut down about six months ago. The last remaining buildings had had their third storeys converted into internal office spaces which I assumed had happened to this space; it would make it much more ideal to house a coven of witches.

"Come here," the older witch beckoned me. He was a man in his early forties with greying hair cut quite long but slicked back from his face. He was quite handsome if you liked older guys, technically I did, it's just I preferred way old older guys, or rather guy. "If you stay between us we can keep you in with our spell, you can see the affects, it'll be the same for you." I nodded my head and took up the space between them, Eric still holding my hand and moving with me. "It won't work on the vampire I'm afraid though." He smiled apologetically at both me and then at Eric who simply shrugged his shoulders, indicating that he wasn't really bothered by it.

"Thanks," I whispered in appreciation and we began to inch forward, all of us crouching down low to the ground, every sense on alert. I'd been rather numb before but adrenaline was coursing through my veins, making me acutely aware of everything going off around me. The witches were breathing rather heavily as though under stress and I had to assume it was because they were upholding the spell. The Weres were moving stealthily and made no sound that I could detect, their shiny black eyes glinted in the dim moonlight and I could see powerful muscles rippling the fur with every movement. My heart thudded and my breath caught with every twig that snapped under my feet, every rustle of leaves that had managed to evade the rainfall.

We stepped out from the cover of the trees and I knew this would be the riskiest part of the mission; we weren't covered by deep shadows or by trees and we would be stationary for quite awhile in the open. Crouching lower than before, so that I was basically kneeling down, I inched further forward. Thankfully I saw that the two witches with me were practically mirroring my stance. The wolves crawled along on their stomachs, heading wider than use to head toward the corner of the buildings, one going left and one going right. Eric finally let go of my hand so that I could hold my arms out for balance and he slowed down enough to fall into place behind me, protecting the rear of the little group.

I felt the instant we came out of the shadow of the trees; the moon light lit up my face, at least it felt like it and I could finally see clearly. The grass we were covering was uncut, at least a foot long but there were surprisingly few weeds which meant I didn't have to be too careful about where I was walking now. The metal siding grew closer and closer, with every passing step until finally I could touch it and I was safe from any prying eyes looking out of the lone window. Just as I was reaching out to steady myself against the building, a hand wrapped around my wrist to stop my motion. Shocked I turned to face the female witch and met blazing eyes.

"Don't, magical ward." She whispered low, leaning into my ear to keep the volume of her voice down to a minimum. I nodded my head, showing that I understood her and retracted my hand, resting instead on Eric's knee as he was knelt down beside me. His cool hand covered mine, giving me silent support and with that I let my eyes flutter shut so that I could focus on the mental signatures from inside the building.

Up until then I'd kept my shields clamped down as I was too close to the group of supernaturals that we'd left to have myself only working on the minds in front of me. I dropped my shields with a lot of effort; it took less effort now to uphold my shields than it did to let them fall completely down. I let the walls drop, and sank down into my consciousness.

I had no idea what the layout of the building in front of me was so I couldn't say with any surety where the people were, when I mapped people's positions it was when I accurately knew the plan of a building and could correspond distances with rooms. All I knew right now was that amongst the blackness that is an area without brain patterns there were five people on the ground floor; three huddled in what down to my left in what I could assume was the office. The other two were walking around the perimeter and we currently turning a corner along the far right of the building, possibly the furthest they could get from our current position. The three in the office consisted of two standard witches; the thoughts if I chose to read them were open to me and the other was a Were-witch, her thoughts hidden and all I could feel was the beginning tendrils of an emotion. My grip on Eric's knee tightened as I dug my fingers into his flesh. I knew who was sitting in the office; Hallow. My mind swam with red and it was only restraining hands on my shoulders that kept me knelt down.

"Focus," I breathed to myself and it worked. I was sucked down further so that I was no longer aware of anything happening around me apart from the cool touch of Eric's hand over mine, keeping me grounded.

From above, what I guessed was the second storey were another thirteen minds; all of them witches and only three of them shifters. The two walking around the perimeter, who were now in the middle of the back wall were also shifters of some kind. There were more females than males and they all appeared to be stationary above us; two were so closely tied together they must have been in physical contact and the surreal pattern of thoughts told me they were asleep. A further three were almost asleep with a few meters distance between them which seemed to signify that the offices above had been turned into make shift bedrooms. The rest of the brains were gathered in an area down near the left hand side, above the office. I had all that I could gather from the building; I couldn't test the power of the witches; I'm sure there would be subtle differences in their brain signatures but I wasn't close enough and I didn't have enough time to study them.

"I got it," I whispered to the little group surrounding me, which included Dean who was walking around us slowly, his nose held into the air. The witches nodded in return before edging backwards, beckoning me to follow so that I would continue to be sheltered by their spell. I finally relaxed my grip on Eric's leg and scrambled to my feet so that I was only crouching again. I'd barely stood up when there was a deep bark, followed by a growl. Then all hell seemed to break loose.

I was pinned to the ground by Eric's body on top of me, all of his weight keeping me flat with my head pressed to the side. About twelve meters to the side a glinting silver dagger was stuck into the earth almost till the handle. Dean was crouched at that side of me, his face turned to snarl at something that I couldn't see behind me and all of his thick fur was stood on end making him seem even larger. The wolves, which were out of my vision, were snapping and snarling although from what I could hear not attacking. "Move!" I cried as loudly as possible, shoving myself upward from the ground and actually getting a couple inches of clearance since he wasn't actively keeping me pinned.

Immediately threw himself to the right just as Dean bolted into the air, sailing clean over my head to land on something stood up. There was the horrible sound of ripping flesh and I turned my head in time to see the giant dog digging his claws into the waist and legs of a male Witch, with his jaws locked onto the man's shredded left arm. Three more witches were behind the pair, crouched low and their hands held out forward, curled into claws. All three of them formed a little circle, their backs to the centre as they were being threatened by two circling werewolves whose teeth were white enough to shine. The two witches on our side were backing up the wolves, stood still facing off with their enemies, hands held together and chanting loud enough for me to hear but not for me to understand.

A cold hand grabbed mine, pulling me to my feet and my legs kicked to gain friction with the earth, allowing me to stand into a crouch. We ran forward into the trees, hand in hand, going as fast as I could move. Somewhere behind us there was an explosion, metal shrieking with pressure, cement crashing to the ground and the incredible boom of matter pushed apart with force. The shock sent me to my hands and knees, crawling along the floor, not caring that my hands were getting scratched and bloody. Over head a tree branch cracked, groaning wildly, before plummeting to the ground barely a foot to my right.

Eric was no longer beside me and I couldn't see him. With my heart thundering in my chest, more adrenaline in my veins I stood up and turned around quickly in search of my vampire. He was behind me, facing off with a male witch with long black hair swept back off of his plain featured face. Snarling teeth filled my hearing and I watched with my breath caught in my throat as they ran at each other. Eric literally flew headfirst into the fight while his opponent leapt forward. His body covered itself with a strange haze that I could see through and the next thing two giant paws were locked onto Eric's shoulders, Eric's hands gripping the beast's jaw.

"Eric!" I yelled out rushing forward towards the two even though I had no idea what I could do to help. They plummeted to the floor then, Eric pushing himself forward so that the wolf landed first with a shattering thud that sent a shrill whine splintering the night air. Teeth gnashed at my vampire's face, missing by only inches and his hands moved from the jaws to grip the paws, physically pulling them off of his shoulders. I watched from a few feet away making sounds that until a few seconds later I didn't even realise were coming from me. I was screaming, screaming for help that I knew I couldn't give.

"Fuck!" I yelled at nothing in particular and sprinted forward, grabbing the wolf that was now pinning Eric in the tussle by the scruff of the neck. The fur pulled back an impossible distance but I kept tugging, ragging fur out of the skin. My hands shifted further round, grabbing near the larynx, letting my fingers grip around the trachea and squeezing tight. A strangled cry left the wolf's lip but without air it couldn't make much sound. One pale hand shot out to the side and crashed down, to the sound of splintering bone and the werewolf went limp in our grip.

"Get out of here!" Pam's voice erupted from the night as she ran out of the trees, going slow enough that I would actually be able to hear and see her. She didn't bother pausing to assess the situation she kept going, heading toward the building where I'm sure all of the witches were now fighting. Over vampires followed her path and through the trees I saw flashes of fur.

"Eric, come on," I pleaded grabbing his hand after he'd pushed the wolf body aside and pulling as hard as I could toward me. He sprung to his feet and he whisked me into his arms so that my legs were wrapped around his waist and my chin rested on his shoulder so that I could see everything that was going off behind us. I couldn't see anything but trees passing by but I could hear the sounds of fighting; yells, grunts and the cries of pain. Just as we were beginning to get too far away to even see where the trees ended a thick, almost black smoke began to encompass the area. I could only pray that all of my allegiances would be okay. When we were too far away to see anything at all and hear nothing I shut my eyes, just letting the sensation of holding my vampire wash over and hopefully soothe me. For once it didn't work completely.

"Lover," he whispered into my ear as I felt my butt pushed up against a rim of something. Sensing that we were safe, or at least safer, I opened my eyes to find that we were back where the cars were packed. Specifically we were against a lower truck bed gate and he was trying to get me to sit down. I unhooked my arms then and let myself fall back a few inches so that I was seated as comfortable as possible. "You're hurt."

He picked my hands up then, ever so gently, from where they were resting in my lap to pull them up to his chest height, palms upturned. The skin was covered with muck, some clumps other parts simply covered by a light splattering of what could be dust but it was all wet; my blood had run enough to turn my hands red. I could just about make out some of the cuts; none appeared too deep but they were all painful now that I was aware of them. "Can you get my first aid kit please?" I whispered to him and without further explanation he laid my hands back down and ran to the car, how he got the keys was beyond me, but he was back a couple of seconds later with the green plastic box in one hand and the back pack in the other.

"What do I need to do?" He placed both items down on the truck bed beside me, opening up the box.

"Get a bottle of water from in the bag so I can wash the muck off." He reached in and after the mistake of grabbing a bottle of blood which he quickly popped back; he gripped a water bottle, unscrewed the cap and began pouring the contents over my hands. The cold water stung, a sharp tingling pain that reached up to my wrists as it mixed with my blood. I couldn't help but hiss out, gritting my teeth. His response to that was to place a tender kiss to my forehead.

"I'm sorry," he whispered sincerely as though this was his fault.

"Nope, it's not you. This needs to be done and I can't do it myself without even more pain." It was true, now that I'd seen the cuts the ache in my hands had taken over me and I doubted I would have been able to actually take the top off of the bottle. Suddenly he tensed up, stilling his motion his head turned up into the air so that he could smell deeply. "What is it?" As far I knew we were alone but then again my shields had gone back up as soon as I'd stopped purposefully scanning.

"Someone's here." My head snapped around at those words, searching for something amiss. It was Eric who saw the figure first, just walking out of the trees. Silently we watched until the person called out to us.

"Hello."

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**So what did you think? You know I love feedback almost as much as I love a certain Viking vampire. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, favourite story-ed and story alerted this, makes the writer happy. So who do you think they just met? I'm guessing you should all pretty much guess it right, a few of you now are getting to understand what the twist in this story is. Until the next update, have a good week and *hugs***


	12. Teaser

**Hey guys, **

**I'm sorry it's been so long since i updated and i know i went back on what I said. But i got really freaked out about results day and some other stuff to do with my mum. Anyway, I kinda had to tell you this and i thought the best way to do this would be through giving you a mini/teaser update, hope you don't mind. Charlaine Harris owns the wonderful Southern Vampire Mysteries. **

**I got into Vet School! It was results day today (thurs 19th aug) and i did well enough to get into the Royal Veterinary College :) My results are as follows**

**A* Biology**

**A* General Studies**

**A Chemistry**

**B Maths (9 marks off of an A) **

**It also enough to get a small bursary from my current college for getting the best science results. Sorry about the gloating, i'll try and get a full update out as soon as possible.**

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The woman smiled at us, the edges if her lips twisting vilely in a grin that I could only describe as evil; full of malice, energy and the deep urges to do harm. Her sparkling eyes were a murky brown colour, matching the colour of her hair that was dark brown. Her hair though was cropped close to her head in a choppy style that didn't really suit her build; tall, slim but with rather masculine shoulders. It would have looked better on someone more feminine with a smaller stature, going almost pixie like. Her clothes were utterly practical; jeans, knee length boots teamed with a thick sweater, all apparently shades of green.

"Hallow," I stated quietly as I instantly recognised her from the meeting that had been held at the bar. She'd wanted to sink her claws into my vampire that night, probably still did, so I did the only thing I could think to do; grabbed Eric's free hand in mine, despite the pain. His fangs ran down when the name sank into his brain; he knew who she was even though I couldn't remember actually telling him specifically.

"Oh you two remember me! I just can't tell you how sweet it is seeing you both like this." Her voice was sickly sweet, grating on my ears. The hairs on my arms stood on end and Goosebumps were raised across my entire body at just her presence. "The spell didn't exactly have the desired effect."

"What do you mean?" I asked her before I could squash the words down, my voice was ice cold, with no emotion at all.

"Well I wanted to wipe his memories, make him seek the one that he loved the most without ever realising he was nearby. It was meant to drive him away; I never expected that it would be you he loved the most. Tell me, how did you overcome the memory loss?" She was pacing slowing towards us in an almost zigzag pattern so that for every ten paces she took she only took a couple toward us.

Surprisingly it was Eric that answered her, his voice barely more than a growl and he couldn't keep the snarl from his lips. "I'm still cursed, a witch of real power would be able to tell if her spell was still in effect." My fingers tightened around his hand, begging him to stop aggravating the witch that clearly didn't need it to be horrendous. "You couldn't rip me away from Sookie, we survived." I could tell he wanted to say more but he kept it in even though his eyes were blazing like I'd never seen before. Hallow didn't bother forming a verbal reply she simple laughed whole heartedly and practically skipped over to us with a broad grin still stretching across her full lips.

"Stay back," Eric growled at her menacingly, snarling again and letting the growl rumble on after his words had finished.

"Oh you're in no position to tell me what to do." When she came to a stop she was only about ten feet away from us and the energy in the air began to crackle with charge. "Sookie, nice to see you again."

"Oh go to hell," I drawled sounding utterly tired because I was tired of all the problems that this woman had caused. The adrenaline from earlier had worn off and I just hadn't kicked myself into gear of this new danger yet.

"I don't think you've fully comprehended my power." With that she closed her eyes, showing that we meant no threat to her and proceeded to mutter something under her breath, gesturing with her hands. Three seconds after she'd started, we'd just stared not really believing what she was doing, the backs wheels of the truck exploded outwards, shooting the truck bed down. Screaming I jumped from the truck into Eric's arms. He swung me around so that his back was to Hallow, his body blocking me from any danger.

"You dare endanger what is mine!" Eric roared once he'd placed me back on the ground and turned to face her. He was stooped low, hands curled into claws and held in front of him in threat. Hallow just stood there, hands on hips and laughing.

"You don't scare me vampire, I have no more desire for you. You killed what is mine so I will kill what is yours." Shit I stated in my head, he'd just declared me as his which meant I was in Hallow's sight. "Then I'll kill you."


	13. Courage

**Hey guys!**

**How are you all? I'm in a brilliant mood! After my results on Thursday I went out for a meal with my rents which they paid for, including alcohol **** I only had three, I'm not a binge drinker or anything. Term starts on the 27****th**** September, I move down to London (Camden to be precise) about the 20****th**** so I'm aiming to have this story wrapped up by then. I think it'll be done. This chapter starts out as a bit of a rewording of the teaser, the plot hasn't changed I've just changed my writing and I'm a bit happier with this version. So, Charlaine Harris owns the wonderful Southern Vampire Mysteries. **

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The woman smiled at us, the edges if her lips twisting vilely in a grin that I could only describe as evil; full of malice, energy and the deep urges to do harm. Her sparkling eyes were a murky brown colour, matching the colour of her hair that was dark brown. Her hair though was cropped close to her head in a choppy style that didn't really suit her build; tall, slim but with rather masculine shoulders. It would have looked better on someone more feminine with a smaller stature, going almost pixie like. Her clothes were utterly practical; jeans, knee length boots teamed with a thick sweater, all apparently shades of green.

"Hallow," I stated quietly as I instantly recognised her from the meeting that had been held at the bar. She'd wanted to sink her claws into my vampire that night, probably still did, so I did the only thing I could think to do; grabbed Eric's free hand in mine, despite the pain. His fangs ran down when the name sank into his brain; he knew who she was even though I couldn't remember actually telling him specifically.

"Oh you two remember me! I just can't tell you how sweet it is seeing you both like this." Her voice was sickly sweet, grating on my ears. The hairs on my arms stood on end and Goosebumps were raised across my entire body at just her presence. "The spell didn't exactly have the desired effect though; you were supposed to forget all about _her_." She sounded just like a petulant teenager that was used to getting her own way exactly. "How did you manage it?" A flick of what I interpreted as awe crossed her face although it was quickly dampened down, replaced by a slightly subdued glee.

"What do you mean?" I blurted out without thinking; we hadn't done anything, he hadn't been able to remember anything properly.

"How did you get him back? He was supposed to be transported sans personal memories to be closest to the person he loved the most, apparently you." I had a split second of warm fuzzies in my stomach before it quickly changed into an increasing sense of dread. It definitely wasn't a good sign if she was telling us all of her devilish ploys.

"Since he's here, with you, the spell has worn off, it's never happened to me before with anything." I just knew it was the truth with the reputation she'd managed to create.

It was Eric who replied to that statement which surprised me a little. "I don't remember, we're just stronger than you think, stronger than you. Now what do you want?" His voice was scarcely more than a growl, gratingly low. The threat went unsaid but it hung thickly in the air with malice. Hi grip on my hand tightened while his spare hand curled into a claw, perfect for ripping flesh from bone.

Nevertheless Hallow began to pace back and forth in front of us, taking two steps forward at every turn which didn't go unnoticed by either of us.

"You couldn't rip me away from Sookie; a truly powerful witch would also know when her spell was working." This time it was my fingers which tightened their grip on his hand, silently pleading him to stop aggravating Hallow. It was to no avail though. "It it was still working."

"Oh that just isn't advisory," she laughed, high and piercing in the rather still night air, a broad grin stretching across her plump lips.

"Stay back," he growled menacingly, letting the growl rumble on even after his words had stopped at her as she took her next couple of steps at a turn.

"You're definitely not in a position to tell me what to do." She finally came to a stop about fifteen feet in front of us, hands held out to her side, fingers splayed and the energy around us began to practically crackle with energy. "It is nice to see you two together one last time." I may have been trying to keep Eric in check to help us get out of this conversation, I was half expecting a couple of our vampires to come tearing through the trees any second, but it didn't stop me from opening my mouth when I shouldn't have.

"Oh go to hell!" I drawled. Adrenaline was back to coursing through my veins sending my heart pounding quickly in my chest although it wasn't too bad yet. I was definitely ready for something to happen after the standoff though and I could see Hallow pretty much twitching with anticipation.

"I don't think you've fully comprehended my power," she snapped back, a fierce glint in her dark eyes that showed for a second before she closed them, telling us without words she didn't think of us as any threat. She began muttering then, low under her breath so that I couldn't make out the words and gestures accompanied. The air between her hands began to crackle and spark, as she progressed then suddenly the truck underneath me began to shake. Eric stared at Hallow while I glanced down wondering what was happening, not really believing that it was Hallow making it happen; I'd only ever seen Amelia perform magic before and it had been nothing like this.

The back tyres of the truck exploded outwards, shooting the truck bed down a foot, collapsing with a jolt as there was no rubber and air surrounding the metal wheel. I screamed with the movement, jumping onto Eric, my arms around his neck so that he could swing me around and to safety. He carefully placed me on the ground, his back to Hallow, protecting me from any further danger.

"You dare endanger what is mine!" Eric roared once he'd placed me back on the ground and turned to face her. He was stooped low, hands curled into claws and held in front of him in threat. Hallow just stood there, hands on hips and laughing.

"You don't scare me vampire, I have no more desire for you. You killed what is mine so I will kill what is yours." Shit I stated in my head, he'd just declared me as his which meant I was in Hallow's sight. "Then I'll kill you." Her grin stretched further, lighting up her whole face with malicious evil, I felt like I could almost see the horrible things she wanted to do swirling around in her head. Luckily I couldn't read her thoughts; she was a powerful supernatural and I really didn't want to know what she had planned.

"Sookie, get back," Eric whispered to me quietly, never taking his eyes off of the witch who was slowly stalking towards us.

My hands clutched the bonnet of the car parked behind the truck for support, ignoring the partially melted rubber clinging to the metal, so that I could crouch down to watch. I couldn't bring myself to really move away though; I needed to see what was going to happen, whether my vampire would need anything. Eric flung himself forward then, moving through the air as fast as he could. Hallow's response was to collapse to the ground before she was touched, causing Eric to land on top of her. His massive frame seemed to smoother her but before he could plant his hands on her to tear away her flesh, her legs curled towards her chest, her feet getting in between them, then she kicked. His momentum carried him straight over her head even as the thud was still echoing in my brain. Hallow followed the motion through, tucking up her body so that she rolled backward to get straight back onto her feet. When she spun around on her heal to face my vampire I could see fury on his face even as he was still picking himself up from the ground.

Snarls ripped through the air, I almost didn't recognise the sound as coming from my vampire, as the pair began to slowly circle each other, both stooped and ready to strike. "Sookie, run!" Eric called out to me, not bothered that Hallow could hear while she was preoccupied with him. I back away in response, crawling down the length of the car, keeping low enough that I couldn't be seen but I couldn't bear to run, I had to see what was going to happen. My breathing quickened, coming in shallow little pants that matched the pace of my heart. My hands remained plastered to the cool metal of the car to still their quaking.

Peering over the top of the trunk I watched the pair match each other step for step. Hallow's hands began to gesture wildly and her lips moved again furiously as she barely opened her mouth enough to get the words out properly. Wooden stakes appeared in her hands and my breath caught in my throat as she instantly threw one then the other in quick succession. Eric responded on instinct, leaning back and throwing both his hands up over his chest to protect his vulnerable chest. The first stake connected with his hand, penetrating through so that I could see wood at both sides of his palm, blood dripping down. His face was grimacing in pain but he whirled around, flinging himself further back so that the next stake barely grazed his shoulder, not even ripping his leather jacket.

He roared in rage and pain he stalking toward her, taking larger strides than she took backward so that she was too close to drop fully when he pounced. Like a striking lion he landed on her, knocking out the breath from her lungs and pinning her to the ground with his weight. An audible snap echoed around us, followed quickly by a yell of sheer agony from the witch. One of his fists pulled back and struck her jaw causing her head to whirl to the side, blood spluttering out of her mouth. Her eyes rolled back for a second before she turned her head back, locking her sights on his fist that had reared back for another blow to dislocate her jaw and trap her magic within her.

His clutched fist stopped mid-motion, shaking in the air before he tumbled back, the air around his hand blurring. He leant back though instead of truly falling, his torso spread over her legs, keeping her pinned to the ground as he began to writhe in sheer agony. Hallow sat up, her hand planted on his heaving chest and she began to chant again. Her lips moved so fast they were blurred and I couldn't just sit by and watch anymore. With a yell of courage I scrambled around the car, moving forward before I'd even stood up straight, I'd barely rounded the car when silver tendrils extended out from Hallow's hand to encompass Eric's chest.

"No!" I screamed, still too far away to do anything when Eric's writhing became barely shudders as the silver sucked his energy, keeping him trapped in a prison of pain. I barrelled into Hallow then, wrapping my arms around her shoulder and using my momentum to shove her to the ground, off of the vampire although I sent me tumbling after her.

"Sookie run!" Eric screamed loud enough to cut through the red fog that was clouding my brain as I was intent on hurting the witch who was now lying underneath me, barely shoving at my body.

I scrambled to my feet, using her torso as a springboard, and her groans of pain hardly registered even though I did gain some satisfaction as I sprinted for the cover of the trees. I just ran, not really thinking of a destination as there weren't really many options; hide, run for the other vampires who were still fighting near the warehouse to see if they could help or loop back around to free Eric.

I stared straight ahead, watching the trees get closer and closer, their shadows making the ground beneath my feet get darker until I was forced to at least half watch my footing or risk falling down. The grass underfoot turned to soggy leaves with sticks, the tree roots were hard nodules underground that jarred my joints when I planted my feet on them. It wasn't long before I began to feel the burn in my lungs and the metallic taste at the back of my throat that came from over exertion but it took my mind off of the bare branches devoid of leaves snapping around my face.

When the trees began to get closer together, slowing my pace I began to turn and begin my loop back. It was then that I became aware of the heavy footfalls behind me, the first signs that I was actually being followed. "Come on, there's nowhere for you to run," a lilting voice tinkled out behind me, closer than I'd imagined but sounding at least equally as out of breath. I sucked in a deeper gulp of air and pushed forwards, leaning into my turns to hopefully move faster. The footsteps dropped back and I knew she was going to head me off, cutting off my loop to my vampire who was in dire need of my help. It left me with only one option; press on forward and hopefully get some help. "It won't hurt that much!" I didn't believe that for one second, not if we'd killed her brother although I don't think we did.

"Argh!" I yelled loudly as I fell, my foot painfully caught on a partially exposed tree root that seemed to be writhing underneath me. I collided with the ground, the air was knocked out of my lungs with a humph and I curled up to clutch my ankle all at once. I could feel something moving within the ground, disturbing the soil but I couldn't focus on it enough, all I could concentrate on was the thudding feet getting closer and closer.

I scrambled onto my hands and knees as effectively as possible, ignoring trying to get up to walking, my ankle wouldn't have taken the weight, it felt sprained at best. My hands reached forward as I pulled myself along, my feet searching for purchase amongst the leaves that gave way. Pain ricocheted around my body then, from am thump against my back which sent me sprawling. Mud caked my face as I coughed against the movement, whatever had landed on me having rolled off. The pounding feet were directly behind me and then there was only silence.

"Roll over," Hallow commanded with too much delight in her voice. I resisted her words, not wanting to make this any easier on her.

"Go to hell," I whispered emphatically, blowing the soil that had stuck to my lips off. She was directly behind me, just to my right hand side where I couldn't quite see her in my line of vision. I felt her stepping closer and my fears were realised when a booted foot was applied to my injured ankle, adding increasing pressure.

"Roll over," she stated again, this time annoyed with an edge of danger. I did nothing at first but she only added more pressure, until the pain it was causing was unbearable and I was forced to move or risk having it shattered.

I found myself staring into the ruddy face of Hallow, her chest heaving as she literally panted. Her eyes burned into me though, never even flickering away. I could still feel the ground shuddering beneath me and as I saw a tree root moving out of my peripheral vision I realised that was what was happening; the trees were moving underground, undoubtedly controlled by the witch. She took a few paces back then without looking, a smirk crossing her face. Something snapped around both my ankles then, trapping them to the ground with a force that I could barely comprehend, I couldn't even lift my feet to begin to fight back. Lifting my head I found two wizened, yet thick, roots wrapped around me. As I was looking down the same thing happened to my rest, clamping me down completely, pulling so that I was forced to lay flat on my back, barely able to lift my head.

"That's much better," she called out, stepping closer to me again. "Now then, I bet you aren't anywhere near as courageous without your vampire to back you up." She gloated over me, leaning over so that she could smile directly above my head.

"You'll never live this down; someone will have vengeance for me."

"No they won't, you're so called friends are losing their battle and your dear vampire is trapped by silver, he'll still be waiting for me to deal with." Fear, real stench worthy fear, gripped my body then at the realisation that this could all be over in a matter of minutes. My allies were losing, which probably meant dying, with no other support coming their way, my vampire was trapped by one of his few weaknesses as I'd been unable to go back for him and I was trapped somewhere in the middle of a wood. "You shouldn't have run, I wouldn't have played then." I swallowed audibly at her statement causing her to giggle with delight.

She dropped to her knees beside me then, so close that I could feel the heat radiating from her along my side. One of her hands began playing over my stomach, bunching the fabric of my unzipped jacket around so that it scratched against the tender flesh which caused all of my muscles to tense strongly. "Watch." She stated loudly as though there was any chance that I couldn't be watching what she was doing, I hadn't taken my eyes off of her hand since she'd started.

Her hand paused about three inches above my stomach and it began to vibrate quickly, thrumming with energy. A sheen of translucent fog seemed to smother her flesh then, obscuring it from full view but not completely. The flesh began to mutate, stretching and contorting in an abnormal way, the fingers got shorter while the nails got longer, almost folding in on themselves to get rounder and sharper. Fur, long and coarse, began to spring from every possible pore, covering the skin with a dark grey hair. The paw shimmered for another split second before the haze cleared revealing the wolf's paw that was still attached to Hallow's body, her arm changed from about half way down her forearm.

Quick as a blink she pulled back her arm and struck forward, ripping at my clothes and pressing down hard enough for me to feel the tips of her claws against my skin, digging in. She pulled back, a clump of my shirt still clinging to her claws but there was no pain; she hadn't broken through the skin to draw blood. With wide eyes I glanced up at her, seeing her sparkling eyes darting over me to take my prone body in.

"Well, it wouldn't be any fun to cut you yet. You can't be turned anyway." She giggled before swiping her claws down again, scratching lightly against my stomach this time, enough to raise faint red lines. Her peeling laughter echoed around the woods, louder than what I could have imagined. "You killed my brother." Her human hand drew back and slapped my clean across my cheek, sending my face snapping to the right, the metallic twang of blood evident on my tongue.

"We didn't kill him," I spluttered; the wolf that had attacked Eric had been alive when we had left; he was still in his wolf form. When werewolves or were-animals in general die, they always revert back to their human form. "He was a wolf when we left." I gazed up at her, hoping that she would see the honesty in my eyes. It was nerve racking staring up at her, the contact improved my telepathy and I didn't want to hear what she wanted to do to me. I think I'd crack if I did find out.

"You lie," she growled at me, teeth bared as she leant down closer. She was close enough that I could feel her hot breath blowing over my face, could see the insanity in her eyes. "He was dead when I found him, a dagger through his heart." She spat at me, finally leaning back but only so that she could slap me once more.

"That wasn't us, he was thrown to the ground but that's all." I pleaded and tears began to form in my eyes, threatening to spill and run down my cheeks. "Please." I whispered after, my eyelids fluttering cold to block out her above me. I didn't want to crumple, I didn't want to beg for life, but here I was doing just that. I was weak, I was human.

I screwed my eyes shut tightly, willing away my tears and making sure my lips didn't open again. I wouldn't beg, I would be strong if it was the last thing I did on earth. I couldn't escape; I couldn't even lift my limbs an inch to even contemplate fighting back so I would be strong to the end, showing the courage that my Eric showed. I delved deep into my brain in search of him, feeling our connection and as soon as I connected with the bond, it flared, spreading warmth across my body. He was still alive and he was responding to me, he sent his own emotions back at me along with comfort, caring and love. He didn't want me to panic.

My eyes snapped open defiantly to stare back up at Hallow, a flicker of what appeared to be worry crossed over her face as she took in my expression. It was there for barely a moment though. "Find some courage did you? Well it still won't save you, do me a favour, beg!" Her voice changed at the end so that it sounded like she was talking to a misbehaving dog.

"No," I ground out sounding as confident as I could. I couldn't explain where my courage was coming from, well I knew it was from Eric, I could feel him in my head as brave as ever, but I couldn't understand why.

"Beg." Hallow commanded again, snapping me back truly to the here and now. Her clawed hand traced up my stomach, her claws digging into my skin so that my flesh bulged up slightly between the keratin. I shook my head in response and she dug in deeper. She reached un-shredded material then and kept going, scratching the cotton all the way up to my collar when she dug painfully in my skin. "Beg."

"No." I whispered out, staring straight into her eyes which were ablaze with anger. She pushed up into my neck, forcing my head back and up, into the wet ground beneath me, pressing so hard into my neck I couldn't breathe.

"Let her go," a deep masculine voice roared from out of my view. I couldn't see anything but the trees just behind me but there was suddenly no pressure on my neck and sweet oxygen flowed into my lungs. I snapped my head up to see what was happening and I couldn't believe what I saw.

Eric, angry red welts still marring his handsome face, had Hallow pinned against a tree by her neck. His forearm was crushing her neck, squashing her trachea so that she couldn't breathe and cutting off the magic she could use. The same arm had the strangely transformed arm pinned with his elbow and his other arm was simultaneously restraining her other arm and pulling on her hair so that she was forced to look at him. She was being held above his head, her feet dangly wildly and unable to kick effectively against him.

"Eric!" I called out with joy at seeing him coming to my rescue free of his silver prison. As soon as he heard my hoarse voice he leaned into the witch, applying more pressure and only then did he turn his head to look at me, finally realising that I was trapped. I saw the shock on his face as he took in my slightly spread eagled form. He nodded at me once, a motion that seemed to convey multiple things at once. The overriding one though; that everything was going to be okay, he was going to save me.

"Let her go," he growled again, his elongated fangs glistening in the very dim light. Hallow did nothing in response and nothing changed, I was still pinned. She looked between me and Eric, hatred clear in her brown eyes.

"Eric, Sookie," a female voice called out. My eyes quickly found Pam, looking rather scruffy, break into the little clearing that we were in. Her eyes were wider than normal as she took in the sight before her.

"Get Sookie free," Eric commanded, his voice taking on the authoritative tone that he didn't actually use very often. Pam was beside me in an instant, her cool hands wrapped around one of the trees roots surrounding my wrists and she tugged back, hard enough that her long hair fell in front of her face with the motion. With a groaning creak the wood gave way, freeing my scratched wrist. The other shackles were quickly destroyed as well and I was free to fall into Pam's open arms with relief, tears that I'd managed to hold back before now falling freely down my cheeks.

"I got you," Pam whispered into my ear, her arms around my waist to support my now shaking body. The adrenaline had run its course leaving me a quivering wreck of exhaustion. Pam pushed to her feet, pulling me with her so that I too was stood. Eric glanced back at us, another nod of confirmation then a sickening snapping sound echoed around us. When he stood back from the tree a second later Hallow's limp body fell down with her head lolling horribly to the side due to her broken neck. At least it had been quick.

"Lover," Eric whispered, pulling me out of Pam's arms before I'd even really registered that he'd moved. I couldn't take my eyes off of the deformed figure of Hallow, completely human in form, lying haphazardly on the ground.

"Take her back home, she needs to get clean and sleep. We can manage the rest, everything under control. I'll call you when we're done." Pam rested one hand on my shoulder and one hand on Eric's for a moment of friendly respect before she disappeared off into the trees, disappearing quickly into the night much like how she'd arrived. I couldn't understand how she'd known to come looking for us but she had, it would at least give me something else to think about later when I could actually digest information.

"Come on." Eric's broad shoulders blocked my view of Hallow, his arms pulled tightly around me so that I was pressed up into him and I took the opportunity to bury my face in his chest, letting his scent wash over me.

"Take me home," I stated blankly, hoping that he would be able to. He was showing more of the real Eric to me, but I couldn't even begin to hope that he'd remembered something. He'd tell me if he had and the bond between us was once again diminished; I knew he hadn't remembered. He was there for me though, he was going to look after me like I'd been looking after him, I wasn't entirely sure how I knew that, I could just tell.

To say that the way home passed in a blue would be a severe understatement. I couldn't remember how we got to the car; I know I didn't walk because of my ankle which meant Eric must have carried me. The drive was spent in a stupor of monotonous thoughts; joy and fear rolled into one. Joy because Hallow was dead, apparently so was her brother, which meant the main threat of the witch coven had been dispatched. Fear because we'd been relying on Hallow to get back Eric's memories which meant we had to get them back ourselves or carve new ones for him with our time together now. I was completely shattered by the time we got back to the house; my muscles were aching, my eyelids were drooping and my emotions had been through the wrangler in the past few hours. All I wanted was to collapse into my bed. Possibly with my vampire by my side.

I finally snapped out of the stupor in the shower, the hot water easing the tension in my body and rinsing away the grime from the day. When I glanced down the water swirling down the drain was tinged with brown, at least it meant the much was no longer on me. I decided not to think, to let myself just have the rest of the night not to think, not to feel to just hibernate as such away from what was happening in the real world. So I just scrubbed at my body, getting every little mar from my skin and washed my hair thoroughly until I was as clean as I could manage. From the shower I dried and stepped immediately into a pair of pyjamas that were really just Eric's clothes; a pair of boxers and a muscle vest top. His scent still clung to the material and that was how I walked out of the bathroom; nose buried into the cotton from around my chest that I was pulling up.

"What are you doing?" Eric asked me from where he was lounging on the bed. His hair was tied back in a pony tail and he was clean, obviously having had a wash at some point. The red welts on his face had completely healed and he was back to being perfectly handsome, I could see a couple of empty bottles of True Blood on the night stand which had probably helped with the speedy healing. He was also dressed exactly like me which he apparently found amusing because he started chuckling to himself.

"I can smell you on my clothes," I replied and crawled up on the bed, making sure that I stepped onto my uninjured ankle to get up.

"Is that good or bad?" He asked again and I could see the less confident side coming through; the 'real' Eric would have known I smelt his scent and that I loved it without needing to be asked.

"Good, it's real good. You have the amazing ability to calm me down, soothe me." I told him honestly while I slunk down under the covers. I didn't bother looking at the alarm clock to find out the time as it probably would only have depressed me.

"Then come here." He pulled the vest top off over his head and threw it to the floor before getting under the covers with me. One of his arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me into his chest so that I was facing him, my head resting underneath his chin so that I was tucked as closely as possible to him. My own arms snaked around him, holding him tightly in the hopes that I'd never have to let go. "Are you hurt at all?" He knew I hadn't been cut or he would have smelt the blood and I wasn't seriously injured or he would have known I was in pain.

"No, a little bruised, a little sprain of my ankle. I'll be fine in the morning." I didn't bother asking him the same question because vampires didn't have variable health statuses and he'd already healed.

"Who were we supposed to have killed?" He asked quietly after a few minutes of just holding each other. He'd spent the time rubbing circles into my back and intermittently placing a kiss on the top of my head, matching the kisses I'd planted on his chest.

"Hallow's brother. I don't want to talk about it tonight though, I just want to sleep. We'll talk as soon as you wake up, I promise. You can answer some of my question too."

"Okay, when I wake up." I snuggled down further into the bed, letting my muscles completely relax so that I was more than half leaning against Eric.

"Thank-you," I mumbled when I was half asleep. I don't know why it occurred to me then, I was a little scrambled after the night's events, but I realised suddenly that I hadn't thanked him for rescuing me.

"What for?" He asked and I could feel his chest vibrating slightly with the words.

"For saving me, you came back for me. Thank-you."

"Anything for you lover." He placed another kiss on top of my head and those were the last words we exchanged before I let myself fall into a dreamless sleep. Tomorrow I would face whatever we needed to but for the rest of the night, I just slept in the arms of my vampire.

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**So there it is, a full length chapter update finally! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, it really is appreciated and it usually makes my day lol. Remember I love feedback almost as much as I love a certain Viking vampire. Btw did you guys see the naked cover pic of Rolling Stone mag? Yeesh, would love to have been that photographer. Also, last Sunday's TB, beautiful Eric and Pam moments, they both need a big hug but if that Sookie/Bill scene is replacing book 4 Sookie/Eric seen I'm mighty ticked off. I wish they'd return to the books a bit more. Enough of my rambling. Thanks guys, have a good weekend. **


	14. Pink

**Hello!**

**How are you all? I'm good, had a pretty busy day. Spent about three hours cleaning my car, inside and out. I don't think she's looked this shiny since I bought her lol. Anyway, I'll keep this short for once so Charlaine Harris owns the wonderful Southern Vampire Mysteries. **

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The room was completely black when I awoke, the curtains were fully pulled around the bed and it was actually a comforting situation to wake up to; it was exactly like it had been since I'd moved in here except for the past few nights. I'd grown to like the darkness and I was most definitely not afraid of anything that would go bump in the night, or the monsters under my bed, mainly because I now had one of those monsters _in_ my bed. Speaking of my vampire, his arm was latched snugly around my waist and he was laid in exactly the same position as he had been when I fell asleep; his body almost stooped around me protectively. To be fair I was still tucked up into his chest and I couldn't resist moving the inch that would allow me to place a kiss on the luminous skin of his chest.

I took the moment where sleep was still clinging to the edges of my mind and I was completely relaxed to evaluate how my body felt after last night. I wasn't in direct pain from anything although I could feel the tender patches of bruises over my knees, from where I'd fallen, since my legs were pressed up into Eric's, since he was asleep which was more like death, he was a dead weight against them. Tentatively I tensed up the muscles in my stomach, expecting some form of ache since the skin there had been scratched and tormented but I felt nothing. I offered up a silent prayer of thanks to the amount of vampire blood I'd taken in thanks to my bond to Eric, I apparently still had excelled healing and it also offered protection from becoming a werewolf myself which would have been a worry if I'd been a normal human. The last body part to be checked was my ankle which I'd imagined was sprained last night. Slowly I lifted my foot off the bed and began twirling my ankle carefully, waiting for the burst of pain but nothing really happened. There was a slight twinge when I moved further than slight movement but definitely no pain and when I glanced down at it there was no swelling.

"Good." I whispered to myself and settled back into my vampire, I was still tired and another couple of hours wouldn't hurt me.

The second time I woke up it was because I really, really had to pee. I bolted awake in the darkness and began immediately to shove Eric's arm from around me which wasn't easy. The dead weight was tucking me in snugly against his chest so my only option was to shuffle downward which put me into very close quarters with some very nice muscles that at any other time I would have stopped to appreciate. I could see him quite clearly from such a close distance, both the vampire blood and his luminescence helping. Eventually I was free and I stumbled from the bed, pushing aside the curtains to reveal the rest of the room was nearly as dark. The only light here came from the alarm clock blinking that it was already four o clock in the afternoon; I'd slept the day away. I ignored that fact for the most part and rushed into the bathroom.

After and after I'd fetched some fresh towels from the chest of drawers in the bedroom I stripped out of my pyjamas to step into the hot water of the shower. The powerful jets beat down against my body, feeling wonderful against the bruises that I could now feel seemed to be covering my body, not just my knees. It would have been so much worse if my vampire hadn't come to my rescue when he did, I still didn't know how he'd managed to escape the silver net that had been trapping him but I was ridiculously grateful that he had. He would be awake soon and would we had plans to talk about everything that had happened. Even though the curse couldn't be lifted in the traditional sense anymore I was still relieved that Hallow was dead, she couldn't cause anymore strife in our lives. I was very hopeful that everything would turn out okay, even if Eric didn't regain all of his memories. We seemed to be doing very well without past memories. He just had to learn everything about me all over again.

I was actually smiling to myself as I lathered up the shampoo in my hair when I heard some form of noise from behind me in the bathroom. When I opened my eyes and glanced over my shoulder I found a gorgeous vampire staring back at me, his face poking around the glass shower screen door that he'd opened. His hair was falling around his face, long and thick and he appeared to be naked, at least from the waist up which was all that I could clearly see of him. His face was showing his hesitancy and the longing burning of lust through his hooded eyes. I swept my hair back with my hands as I turned around to face him fully so that it didn't cover my face. His eyes left mine for only a second to quickly trail over my body, taking everything he saw in. I wasn't embarrassed, I didn't want to cover up, I trusted him and I wanted him in the shower with me.

While we continued to stare at each other, energy sparking between us, I silently offered my hand out to him. It was only when his much larger, cool hand was placed in mine that I dared to breathe, letting the breath out that I hadn't even known I was holding. He stepped into the massive shower cubicle with me; carefully shut the door behind him without looking to stand in front of me in all his naked glory. It definitely was glory as well; I would never get fed up of seeing him without clothes, hell I'd never get fed up of him in general. His brilliant blue eyes were darker than normal, his desire for me clearly written in them. My eyes took their turn to trail down his body, although I went a lot slower, taking in absolutely every detail.

His face was handsome just like always with absolutely no trace of the trauma he'd suffered last night, in fact there wasn't any scar or indication about what he'd been through and there never would be. His jaw had the first little signs of stubble so that it would be slightly rough under my finger tips, a fact about him that would never change but something I loved about him. His bare chest was deliciously muscled and pale blond hairs were spattered around, just enough to turn me on and to play with. His stomach was poster worthy; well defined lines making up a just brought in six pack that was more evident when he moved than standing still but I knew from experience his muscles there would quiver at times when we were getting intimate. His long legs were lean and athletic. In essence every little bit of his warrior type Viking past showed through with his physique.

"Come here," I whispered to him once my eyes had returned back to look into his, I had noticed the small smirk on his face when he knew I'd been appraising him. He didn't need any further invitation; he stepped up to me wrapping his arms around my waist to pull me tightly into him whilst his head bent down so his lips could meet mine. The kiss was slow, tender and gave motion to the emotions we both felt. The hot water sprayed over both of us, soaking Eric's hair through quickly which made it fall in thick tendrils through my fingers which were weaved into the long locks. My lips moved incessantly against his, building speed and pressure as I just needed to feel him. His hands began to trace lines up and down my back with his fingertips, stopping just before got to my bottom.

His surprisingly soft lips left mine which meant my head immediately fell backwards, my neck supported by one of his hands. His lips never left my skin though, he moved down along my jaw and onto my neck, sucking and nipping in between the pecks. His hips ground into mine, letting me feel his hard gracious plenty digging into me, letting me know exactly what was in store for us tonight. His fangs pressed into me on the next kiss and I moaned loudly at the feeling of him so close to me.

The water continued to trail down over our bodies, making us gleam with wetness and silky under each other's fingers. My hands worked down from his hair, letting it tug softly between my fingers, until I reached his chest and I moved onto feeling his muscles underneath me. I hooked one leg over his hip then and he took the hint, dropping both of his hands down to my hips, picking me up so that I could wrap both of my legs around his waist, my centre pressed directly over him, letting his erection press into my clitoris with pleasure.

Our lips returned to each other, kissing with more need for each other. My tongue ran along his bottom lip, making him open his mouth, his tongue meeting mine immediately. We caressed and felt each other, taking our time surprisingly to investigate everything. I luxuriated in the feel of his cool lips against mine, the way his body felt pressed up against mine and how he was careful of me even when we were in the heat of the moment. I moaned against his lips, not bothering to keep the smile contained. His response was to growl and press me up against the wall so that his hands were free to roam over my body.

His hands worked their way to my chest where he palmed my breasts, massaging the sensitive flesh with his hands before rolling my nipples with his fingers lightly. My head fell back again with the feeling, moaning freely and arching my back into him, begging silently for more contact. After a few moments his hands worked further down my body, trailing over my stomach until he got lower. I pulled myself back up, holding my legs so that I wasn't pressed too close to his body, allowing him better access with his glorious long fingers. My lips found their way to his neck where I began to nibble at his skin causing a deep growl to reverberate around his chest.

"Bedroom," I breathed into his neck, my lips barely off of his skin. His fingers which were sliding in and out of me, his fingers curved to rub against parts inside of me that caused me to moan uncontrollably and shudder against him at the building pressure.

"Lover," Eric replied, his voice had taken on a deep bass quality that brought visions of every other time he'd used that voice, making muscles low in my stomach clench. His hands moved over me, grazing places just to tease me until one of his hands was holding me up by my bottom. His over hand left my body entirely to switch off the shower which turned the temperature in the cubicle down, and the beads of water to gather on my skin.

His other hand returned to me, fingers splayed across my back, pressing me into him so that my breasts were squashed against his chest, my heart thumping against my rib cage. He stepped back with me then, my back free of the harshly cold tile and I didn't look up until I was sat on the edge the counter in the bathroom. He pulled back from me, which I groaned at due to the loss of contact between us. He was back less than a second later a big black fluffy towel draped over his arms which he immediately used to begin rubbing me dry, paying particularly close attention to my breasts.

"Eric, I need you," I whispered to him, my hands now resting on top of his that were moving over every inch of my body to make sure I was completely dry.

"I need you," he growled back the instant before his lips crashed into mine. My hands snaked around his neck, pulling him further down and I felt the towel drop onto my thighs just before his hands weaved their way into my hair.

"Bedroom," I stated again, my lips so close to his that I brushed against them with the word. He nodded against me and I wrapped my legs around his waist again, holding my centre against him so that every movement of his would create friction between us. His stooped body stood up straight, taking me with him and he walked without lifting his lips from mine into the bedroom.

I was thrown, albeit softly, onto the king sized bed so that I bounced slightly when I hit, laughter falling out of my mouth from the motion. He loomed above me, crawling onto the bed slowly so that I could take in the languid motion of him moving towards me, an almost predatory glint in his shining blue eyes. When his face was above my stomach he dropped down to place open mouthed kisses on me, his body hovering just above mine so that I could feel his coolness above me without him touching me. It was torture and I groaned against it, my hands grabbing onto his shoulders, trying to push him down.

"Please," I begged freely and I was rewarded a devilish smile gracing his lips when he stared up at me, his mouth still working just below my breasts. He moved upward slightly until his nose was pressed into the plump flesh of my breasts and his mouth soon locked onto my nipple, sucking and lightly brushing his teeth against my skin. "Eric, please!" I begged again, I didn't need any more foreplay. It had been days since we'd been this kind of intimate and I just needed him, more than I could really express.

My hands unwound from his hair to cup his face, tugging upwards and he actually allowed me to do it. Almost immediately his face was above mine, his lips skimming across mine in teasing caresses but that wasn't what I was really concentrating on. His hands trailed down my sides until he got to my thighs which he grabbed, pulling them to the side so he could lay fully between my legs, his erection pressing into me. I understood what he was trying to do and I wrapped my legs around him, my ankles crossed at his lower back.

"Lover," he whispered before pushing forward and thrusting into me, a loud groan echoed around the room from both of us. My head lolled back against the pillow, my eyes shut tightly as I simply felt the sensation of him filling me up, my arms wrapped around him. "Look at me," he commanded, his words emphasised by a particularly powerful thrust. My eyes snapped open and I found his blue eyes staring back at me from only a few inches away.

"Bite me," I whispered into his neck, my teeth nibbling on his tender skin again, tasting him; he was a delicious mix of masculinity and something that could only be described as vampire. He pulled back slightly, one of his hands now holding onto my jaw, pulling my head away from his neck so that he could trail a line of kisses along my jaw. He got to my neck as I was beginning to feel the first licks of ecstasy around my body, my skin felt like it was in a cold fire, and I knew I didn't have long before I was thrown over the edge.

His fangs pressed into my neck, pushing into the skin but always pulling back before he risked breaking through. He kissed, licked and sucked, eliciting almost constant moans from me that were getting louder and louder with every passing second. "Please Eric, bite me, drink." I cried out loudly, letting the frustration into my voice. His lips intensified against me, sucking harder and pressing his fangs in more frequently. Just as I was about to beg again he bit down hard, breaking straight through the skin, his fangs sinking down into one of my veins. The release of pressure was immediate as I felt my blood being drawn out of my body and into him. I could feel him filling me up and the pressure my body was under, the relief somehow adding to it, sent me screaming over the edge into true ecstasy.

An hour later, we'd managed to go for round two; I was laid on top of Eric, my arms folded across his chest with my chin resting on top of them so that I could look up at him. One of his arms was behind his head, propping him up further on the pillow so that he could easily see me. His other hand was playing with my hair and tracing little patterns on my shoulder, whichever motion took his fancy at any particular moment. We were both completely relaxed, I couldn't feel an ounce of tension in his body directly below mine and I couldn't seem to wipe the lazy smile off of my face.

"Thank-you," he whispered after a few moments had passed between us in silence.

"What for?" I asked with laughter evident in my tone. I don't think I'd ever been directly thanked for sex before, I'd only ever slept with Eric and he preferred to show he was grateful in more practical ways.

"Everything, you've helped me a lot. I have, ah, feelings for you." He stuttered out, obviously not used to talking about his feeling. To be fair, my Eric wasn't that comfortable with it either, although he'd been getting much better at expressing himself with me, and he absolutely no problem with telling me that he loved me.

"Don't worry, I know." I told him sweetly, letting my smile grow brighter and I placed a quick kiss on his chest, just above where my arms rested. His answering smile set me back at ease and I knew we would be able to overcome his amnesia, he was already feeling things, no doubt due to the bond.

"You said last night that we had to talk tonight." He started out, deftly changing the topic to another one that was equally as important.

"Yeah, I just wanted to clear something up. Such as, how did you manage to escape the silver netting?" I raised my eyebrows in question as I gazed up at him.

"She left to chase you before it was properly in place. The tendrils stretched up over my head and arms but the ones on my arms didn't stay there properly, they were very thin. Eventually I was able to free my arms and then I just had to overcome the pain to get myself free. I felt something that spurred me on."

"What was that?" I got more comfortable on him, resting my cheek on my arms now so that my head was down, I could still see him clearly though.

"I think it was our bond, I felt fear, real fear that I can't remember ever feeling before, not like that. I think it was from you."

"Yes, Hallow trapped me and I was a little overcome, sorry about that," my voice tapered off at the end so that if he hadn't been a vampire he wouldn't have been able to hear me.

"Don't be." The hand that had been tracing swirling patterns on my shoulder move to touch my chin, lifting it slightly so that our eyes met and he smiled at me. "I felt your fear and I knew I had to save you, so I did. I didn't question, I don't question it, I just knew what I had to do. I think I understand what we were, what we are." I couldn't help that my eyes widened at that statement.

"What do you mean?"

"Well I understand more really, I'm coming to realise that just because I don't have memories of you, what we share I still know you. I know that you're sweet, fun, caring, highly protective of those that you love and that you would do anything to help the people closest to you." He shrugged his large shoulders. "I can't remember anything that tells me those things are the truth, the evidence behind them, but I just know it. Like how there's something out there, more than this world. We can't prove it but you know."

"Eric, don't freak out when I say this, but I can't keep it in." His quizzical expression would have been amusing given any other situation but I couldn't just blurt out my feeling when he'd only known me for a few nights.

"Anything lover."

"I love you, all of you, memories or not. You're still the same person I fell for." I smiled up at him, knowing that it was lopsided and really hoping that he would take it for what I meant it as; an honest statement, letting him know that I wasn't going anywhere and that I would help him through this.

"I know you do. Last night when I told you to run, you didn't at first, why?" I hadn't been expecting him to return the statement to me, but it still stung slightly to not have the words uttered back to me.

"I couldn't leave you with her." It was simple honesty and he saw it in my eyes. I could tell he was about to ask another question but my stomach growled loudly, reminding me that I hadn't eaten for at least twenty four hours. "Urgh, I need to eat." I told him, slowly pushing up on the mattress with my hands so that I could carefully crawl off of him. I grabbed my standard pyjama clothes of one of his t-shirts and a pair of boxers, before padding into the kitchen; I knew he was following me as the bed had creaked with his movement.

I went straight to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of flavoured water, milk and a yoghurt before turning to the pantry to collect the cereal box. When I turned back to face the cupboards where we kept the bowls I found Eric sat at the table clad only in a pair of boxers. He was a wonderful sight and my insides flip flopped again even though we'd only just left the bedroom. I wasn't usually quite like this, even though I had a very healthy appetite probably due to Eric who was pretty much insatiable, but having deprived myself from him when he was so close, I had definitely let something loose now.

"What are you eating?" He asked when I'd taken my seat opposite him.

"Cereal, way too late to cook."

"Don't you have any of the cheesecake left?" He waggled his eyebrows at me and I didn't stand a chance at holding back the laughter.

"I ate it all. I might pick some up at the grocery store next time I go." I smirked right on back at him before tucking into my supper. We spent the time while I was eating in silence until I was left with just a bit of my yoghurt which was strawberry flavoured; my favourite.

"What do we do now?" He asked quite suddenly and my eyes jolted up to him. He didn't look confused, or worried, it seemed he was asking out of genuine curiosity.

"What do you mean?" I swallowed the last spoonful of yoghurt and set the spoon down on the table, giving my vampire my undivided attention.

"Hallow is dead so she isn't a threat, she can't lift the curse. I don't have my memories back. What do you we do in general? Where do I live? What do I do?"

"Oh, well you live here of course. Well, that is if you want to, don't do anything you don't want to." Most of the time it would have been laughable; the idea that an unharmed human could force a thousand year old vampire to do anything he didn't want to do. He nodded in reply and I continued. "You can go back to working at the bar if you want but we're pretty comfortable money wise. I'll go back to work at Merlotte's now there's no danger, or no more than normal. We can work on getting your memories back. I might ask Amelia to come up."

"Amelia your witch friend?" I couldn't remember when I'd told him about Amelia but I nodded that he was correct.

"Yeah, she knows a spell or too that might help, nothing definite. Otherwise we go about life exactly how we want to, do things how we want to. Or how you want to." It was normal for me to refer to us as 'us', of course we had our separate lives but we shared everything with each other.

"I'd like to stay here, with you. I'll meet your friend because I think I'm missing out on a lot." He grinned at me mischievously and I knew he was about to say something cheeky. "I'm missing you right now actually, come back to bed?"

I took his extended hand and he led me from the room. By the time we reached the bedroom we were both naked and our lips were connected in a fiery kiss. This time was slow, sweet and he took blood from my breast, one of my favourite places for him to drink from.

I found myself partially sprawled over my vampire, using his chest as my pillow. I was thoroughly exhausted and my breathing was already deep in preparation for sleep. My eyes were shut lightly as I pressed my face into him. I was wrapped up in his arms, held tightly as though he thought I might run away at any chance I got. I could barely move my muscles were so weak, anything more than sleep was beyond me. Strange as I'd pretty much slept the day away but I chose not to question it. I had no idea what time it was but I had a feeling it was early rather than late.

"Lover," he whispered into the night and all I could bring myself to do in response was hum to show that he had at least some of my attention. "I think I love you."

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**So what did you think? You know I love feedback almost as much as I love a certain Viking vampire. Have fun watching True Blood tonight, you'll get my views on it I'm sure when I get to see it in a couple of days. Also, congratulations to Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin who apparently tied the knot yesterday. Thanks my wonderful readers. *hugs* Have a good week**


	15. Really?

**Heys guys, **

**How are you all? I'm really good, went riding this morning which was fantastic, a beautifully skewbald cob type guy. Anyway, this is going to be a long one I warn you now so if you want to skip to the chapter *shrugs*. I think we should all wish ASkars happy birthday! Also I'm a littled miffed with my Dad, he's going away to work for two weeks in Sweden and then touring through at least Italy and possibly Germany doing services or something for the Ikeas he works with and he's not taking me. -_- Damn him, I've been trying to convince him for years to take me with him on these trips but nothing. He says it's a blast because during the day it's a quick job but he has to travel around and actually gets sightseeing in too. This last little bit I doubt most of you will understand but the BT advert couple are having a baby! I don't about the rest of the UK but me and my friends have been watching their development as a couple for ages, it's really sweet to see them get together. Plus the guy is Nick from My Family so he's great. Anywho, Charlaine Harris owns the wonderful Southern Vampire Mysteries**

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I had discovered a new fondness of collecting clothes up from the floor the next morning. I'd awoken midmorning, quite early considering how late I'd been up but I had slept away pretty much the entire day yesterday. When I'd walked out of the bedroom, still towel drying my hair, I'd discovered a trail of clothes leading into the kitchen which only conjured up flashbacks from last night. So it was with a smile on my face that I picked up all of the items to pop them into the laundry basket, dumping the damp towel used on my hair as well.

I was rather tender in a way that I hadn't been for quite awhile but then again last night had been rather special. For breakfast, which was more like lunch by the time I got around to eating, I actually cooked, something I didn't do too much of nowadays. It was a simple stew, beef and potatoes with random vegetables thrown in to add extra flavour, but I really enjoyed it and the best thing; it would last for a couple of days. While the food was cooking though I began to make the phone calls that were needed.

"Hello, Amelia Broadway at Broaden Your Horizons, how can I help you?" Amelia was her normal chipper self and I felt the smile that had remained plastered on my face stretch even further, it was amazing what just hearing your best friend speak could do.

"Hey Amelia," I replied happily and immediately the sounds of her moving through the bustling shop to a quiet room could be heard.

"Sookie! How are you girl? I haven't heard anything for awhile, what's going on?" She was speaking a mile a minute but after a little giggle at her bubbly personality the real world came crashing down around me as I remembered everything that really was facing us. I hadn't even heard from Pam yet, I didn't know if anybody had been injured or worse, I really needed to get my head sorted out.

"A lot's happened." I started out but before I could continue she interrupted me.

"You slept with him!"

"What? How did you know?" There was no point denying it at all and I definitely wasn't keeping it a secret, I was still bonded to the guy.

"You sound light," she laughed. "Sorry, but I've betting against myself about how long it would take for you two to give in. Did he remember and that's why?"

"Ah no, that's what I was calling about." She jumped in again and I was actually pleased that she had, she was lightening the mood I'd sunk into.

"He couldn't keep his hands off of you could he? I knew he wouldn't need memories to know how he felt about you. Right, sorry, had to get that out. What's going on?" Her tone settled down somewhat and I could just imagine her perched on the edge of a table, swinging her legs unconsciously which was one of the signs she was concentrating.

"We attacked the witch coven last night, wait no, two nights ago. We won, I haven't been in touch with Pam yet, which I've only just realised. There isn't anything I can do about that for a few hours anyway. We think Mark, Hallow's brother died, because she blamed us for it although he was only injured the last time we saw him. Anyway, Eric ended up helping me out and killed Hallow in the process."

"I know it opens an entirely different kettle of fish altogether. I'm still pretty glad she's dead, even if that does make me a bad person. Her brother too for that matter." Amelia didn't have a malicious bone in her body, she could be dangerous and fierce when needed but she really did have a very good heart.

"That doesn't make you a bad person, at the end it was pretty much me or her."

"I like you a whole lot better," she giggled slightly before continuing what she was saying. "What about the curse?"

"We didn't get her to rescind it, that's really why I was calling you. He didn't get his memory back when she died, so I wanted to know a prognosis." I held my breath waiting for what she had to say, even though I knew it wouldn't have changed since the last time we'd spoken.

"It's the same as before, if her death didn't immediately end the spell then it won't work. It might lessen the affect, make it easier for him to remember but that's about it. I'd advise just keep talking to him about stuff, going through some memories, you being there is probably the best course of action."

"Did you ever try that spell?" She'd mentioned a spell she was going to try to help last time.

"Yeah, but it obviously didn't do anything, has he remembered anything?" She was sounding concerned now, more so that before.

"Nothing major really, he knows how to drive, he started calling me lover again but we don't think it's an actual memory and last night he told me he loved me."

"Oh Sookie, that's so sweet!" She cooed at me, not the first time she'd done so at Eric's expense.

"Yeah, I know. Of course I still love him. Anyway, I was wondering, the spell, would it work better in close proximity?" I knew she'd be able to tell I was getting at something, I wasn't sure I wasn't just being blunt with her. "From what I know, supernatural things seem to work better when you have contact."

"It could work better, it's worth a shot. Why?"

"Well would you like to come up here for a couple of days? Multipurpose trip? Introduce you to Eric," it was very strange uttering that sentence. "Hang out and catch up since we haven't seen each other in a coon's age and you could try that spell whilst you're here." My voice was full of hope; hope that she'd come. I missed my friend.

"Of course I will, Sook, I miss you girl. You can't get all of your hope on this spell though."

"I know, I think I can come to terms with him not regaining his memories. We seem to be managing, better than that really, so far. I just want to try it and well, I like having you around and maybe seeing you would help trigger something."

"Okay, I get where you're coming from. I can't get away until next weekend though, will that be okay?" We were currently on Sunday afternoon, nearly a week would give me enough time to talk to Eric about this and let Pam know, and sort God knows what else I needed to do.

"That'll be fine, you can stay in the guest bedroom here."

"Okay, that'd be good. Right, I have to go, there's only one cashier at the minute, someone called in sick so I better go. One thing though, can you promise me something?" I could hear the teasing in her voice, she was going to pull something cheeky.

"What's that?" I asked with more than a hint of caution in my voice.

"That you and Eric will keep it quiet and in the bedroom while I'm there." With that she hung, leaving me to laugh to myself even as my cheeks flared crimson.

When I was finished on the phone I had lunch which was a slightly boring affair when there wasn't anyone around to talk to or someone staring at you. After food it was time to make a phone call that I wasn't particularly looking forward to; Alcide Herveaux. I hadn't spoken to him properly in quite awhile, certainly during the attack he'd been in wolf form and I just can't put the two forms together, take my boss for instance. Sam is Sam when he's in human form, but whenever he turns into animal form, usually his preferred dog, he becomes Dean. It was the same with Alcide, except I haven't named his wolf form. I'm also unsure about how much of their human side they retain and whether they could understand me even if I did speak to them.

"Herveaux and son, Alcide speaking." I was extremely pleased to hear his deep growly voice even if I hadn't been looking forward the phone call itself. It meant he was alive and since I'd called his work number, well enough to go into work. It also meant I didn't have to speak to his awful secretary.

"Hey Alcide, it's Sookie, how you doing?" I replied brightly.

"Pretty good, I'm alone at the office so if we're quick we don't have to speak candid. Sonja's on her lunch break and the other contractors are out on a big project." He was speaking in a rush, obviously Sonja was due back sometime soon.

"How is the pack? I didn't get to speak to you guys after the attack."

"We're all alive, a few were injured but only one seriously. Spike is in the hospital but he's expected to make a full recovery."

"What about the vampires?" I couldn't speak to Pam for at least another five hours.

"One casualty I believe, you'd better speak to one of your own about that though. The witches are all okay as well, not one of them got more than cuts and bruises."

"That's good, it's bad to say but that's better than I expected."

"Yeah it is. Wish I could say the same about the other side." To say Alcide was a werewolf, the notorious thugs of the supernatural world, he didn't seem to particularly like violence and death. "All but three died."

"Do you know if Mark, Hallow's brother, died?" It was really bugging me the fact that me and Eric were getting blamed for his death when we'd only left him injured, and not injured enough that he would die from it, not if he was a werewolf.

"No idea, I didn't get any formal briefing on the deaths, Colonel Flood will know but the vampires took control of clean up. The pack is just glad the witches are going to be leaving us alone. Are you okay? I heard you had to be taken home." His voice was filled with concern over me and I couldn't help smiling at it, Alcide was a sweet man. If I wasn't head over heels for my vampire, he would be the sort of man that might be good for me. I was completely content, more so really, with my vampire though.

"I'm fine, got a bit banged around and scared by Hallow but I was fine the next day."

"Vampire blood," he said with clear distaste. Werewolves had super fast healing anyway, they didn't need it, I was merely human, well telepathic but it sadly didn't come with extra speedy healing.

"Yeah. So, everyone's fine? No problems?"

"Nope we're good. I better go, Sonja just walked in and I can see my dad's truck in the parking lot. Speak to you soon when everything's blown over." I grimaced at the knowledge he'd just given me, he was completely oblivious to the affair his father was having with the receptionist, I'd been unlucky enough to pluck the idea right from her head one day.

"Okay, see you later."

I made my way into the office then, possibly my favourite room in the entire house as it was an eclectic mash up of both mine and Eric's personalities. There was so much of both of us; my books lining the walls, his scattered amongst them although they definitely weren't the same types, he preferred nonfiction information type books on history and cars, I liked my romances and mysteries. The furniture as well was an odd mixture of sleek, modern and the truly comfortable arm chairs that can only achieved by them being lived in. I grabbed the remote control for the stereo system from a shelf as I walked past and sat myself down in the high backed computer chair, switching the computer itself on by pressing the button with my foot. I was too lazy to bend down to press it.

My cell phone was miraculously on the desk, or at least, one of my phones was. I picked it up and sent Sam a quick text, knowing that he'd be working behind the bar at Merlotte's, making sure that he was okay. I was sure he was though, of all the people who had been at the attack he would be the first person I would find out about if he was injured. Anyone of the waitresses at the bar would have let me know, my brother would have too since he was always having lunch at the bar. I didn't expect a reply for awhile so I tossed the phone back onto the desk before grabbing the house phone handset that we kept on the desk and dialled the answer phone.

"Sookie, we've finished everything up at the warehouse. We suffered some casualties, one fatality. We'll talk in person about this. I hope you're well, you're fun to have around." I snorted with laughter at her, she'd started out with something that could actually qualify as a greeting and then she showed emotion about a human, it was so wonderfully awkward for her. It was also an improvement. "Call me when you get this message, I've emailed you everything that needs sorting out with the bar so that I can sort other things out." The message ended abruptly; of course it was too much to ask that she would actually end the message with a goodbye.

At least I knew exactly what I would be doing now. I'd come into the office knowing that I would have to double check some orders, check email accounts and just general checking over some things to do with the bar. And, if I had time I was planning on sifting through some of Eric's fan mail as well, mainly for the laughter it would cause. I'd actually gained a few ideas from some of the more explicit mail. I shook my head to clear it of those thoughts and brought open the email accounts, logged on and began sifting through junk mail and things that actually required attention. I idly pressed the button for the stereo and the strange almost wailing singing of Steven Tyler filled the room. Love in an Elevator began to play after the first song and I couldn't help but giggle; I'd never had sex in an elevator and neither had Eric. Since we didn't have many options for an elevator, at time he'd been seriously considering having one installed into the bar to get down to the basement. I wouldn't have been too adverse at the idea. Sadly it was called off.

Two hours later I'd just sat back down at the desk after sorting myself out with a cup of coffee to keep my attention span up and my mind alert when I thought I heard a bumping sound coming from the bedroom. The clock said that it was only four o clock, too early even for Eric to be getting up so I ignored it. The nights were getting considerably shorter, something that I didn't particularly like. Winter was good; the nights were very long and I could spend a lot of time with my vampire without losing out on too much sleep. I turned my focus back to the order form I had opened up, altering details about how much we needed with the cost, taking options to include special offers I'd found on the internet ordering site. I was only working with what the last stock check had resulted in and what we usually needed as no one seemed to know what was needed. It was clear that the bar wasn't being run properly, at least for the past couple of days. Pam would have her reasons and the sooner I found out about them the better I would feel.

There was a rather larger crash emanating from the bedroom, loud enough that I couldn't ignore it; something was going off in there. It was no half past four, the day was overcast so there was no light coming in from anywhere but it was still early for even an old vampire to be rising. I was just getting up out of the computer chair when I heard it, a panicked yell. "Sookie! Lover!" I sprang up from the chair and ran across the carpeted floor to the door then down the hall. "Lover!" I reached the bedroom door and I was just about to reach for the handle when the door was wrenched open and I was instantly wrapped up in a pair of very strong arms.

My face was pressed into his muscular chest that I could feel heaving underneath me with actual breaths that he really didn't need. Usually he only took enough air in to allow him to speak as his body didn't process the oxygen or anything else, so for him to be breathing like he needed it was a sure sign he was distressed. I wrapped my arms around his waist and hugged him back tightly; worry beginning to mount in my head.

"Oh lover," he whispered into my hair, placing a kiss there when he'd finished the words. I couldn't turn my head to look at him; I was trapped too forcefully to his chest, although I wasn't really complaining.

"What's wrong?" I asked, equally as quietly, trying to be soothing with my hands rubbing up and down his bare back. On some level I was barely aware that he was still naked.

"I can't believe what I did." He started out, I could hear the anger held in his voice, all directed at himself. He was completely losing me; surely he wasn't telling me that he regretted last night. Even if he was, it shouldn't have been rendering this kind of reaction from him.

"What are you talking about?" I asked after a couple of seconds of his silence and I was still locked in his steely grip of an embrace. I actually felt quite safe and secure.

"Just... Are you okay? Did you get back okay?" He sounded completely insane to my ears, I couldn't understand what he was trying to explain at first but then something snapped inside me; surely he couldn't, after all that had happened everything had come rushing back at once? "I can't believe I didn't wait for you getting back, or picking you up. How the hell did I fall asleep?" He muttered the last bit to himself thankfully, my mouth was opening and closing without words coming out, I was so shocked at the situation.

"Eric?" I whispered tentatively, trying to pull back enough so that I could see his face. Reluctantly he did, relaxing his arms so that I could pull back a few inches, staring up into his worry filled eyes.

"Yes lover?" His head was stooped, so that I barely had to crane my neck to see him properly.

"What do you remember?" A flicker of confusion crossed his face but he answered my question anyway.

"I had the meeting with the witch," he glanced back over his shoulder to gain the time from the alarm clock. His eyes grew slightly wider as he took in the time, which was just before five. "Yesterday, we were discussing the terms of getting them out of the area." The confusion deepened as he thought through his memories. "I'm not actually sure after that, I woke up here. What happened? I was supposed to meet you here or pick you up." A broad grin stretched across my face; he remembered!

"Do you remember me?" I asked, tears beginning to build up in my eyes, threatening to run down my cheeks.

"What? Of course I do, lover, I love you Sookie. How could I ever forget you?"

"I'll explain but ah, the meeting with the witches happened days ago." I really didn't know how to explain everything to him because it really wouldn't be easy to tell or for him to hear, it was however, a necessity. The tears began to streak down my cheeks in hot lines. They didn't last long before his thumbs were wiping them softly away and he was looking directly into my eyes from a level height, he appeared even more worried now. He obviously hadn't realised they were happy tears, I could feel some of the tension leaving my shoulders as a weight was lifted.

"Lover, what's happened? I don't understand what you're saying." His voice was soft, slightly deeper than normal and he placed a tender kiss on my forehead when he finished speaking.

"We need to have a really good talk and then we need to speak to Pam. This is gunna take some explaining." This was a complete turnabout of events; he now remembered the past couple of years together but he'd forgotten everything that had happened during the past few nights. "Come on, we need to sit down for this." I leaned back further, giving him the hint that I wanted to leave the bedroom behind and head for the living room. He did let me go, eventually, but his hand never left mine. There was still an expression of what appeared to be guilt on his face, one that I'd never really seen before. That was the first thing that had to go; none of this was in any way his fault.

I folded myself onto the sofa with Eric sitting down beside me. That position didn't last very long at all. With his hands gripping my hips he picked me up and placed me carefully down on his lap, feet still on the couch cushion that my bottom had just vacated. His arms slipped up slightly to hug my waist as one of my arms wrapped partly around his massive shoulders. When I was comfortable he looked at me expectantly and I began to speak, tears still welled up in my eyes but no longer threatening to spill.

"I'm not entirely sure what happened at the meeting but apparently you were all sat in the room discussing when the witch felt threatened and the next second you disappeared. I got a phone call at Merlotte's and I went looking for you. Eventually I found you near my old home, you couldn't remember anything, personal amnesia."

"What about Tara? I didn't do anything did I?" One of his hands was now tracing the skin over my neck lightly; I assumed it was the mainly healed fang marks from last night.

"No, she wasn't even in, she doesn't know anything's happened. Anyway, I took you back to our place, called everyone. We tried talking about stuff to get your memories back. But more important stuff first."

"Lover, you are important to me." His hand slipped to the back of my neck, pulling my head towards him and our lips met in a very tender kiss full of all our love. I sighed against him as we both pulled back, our foreheads resting together.

"I know." I gave him another peck, leaning back before he could begin to kiss me back. "But, we have time for personal things later. Pam looked after the bar but we eventually had to attack the witch coven, they weren't taking any compromises. The Weres, the local witches and even Sam came together two nights ago to the warehouse where they were holed up. Essentially we won; Hallow and most of the other witches are dead."

"That's good." He nodded his head for emphasis and that statement reminded me more than most other things could that he was a vampire, I still loved him though. In fact, I think I loved him quite a bit more because he was a vampire.

"Yeah, you ended up saving me from Hallow." I squeezed him tighter with the arm that was around his shoulders.

"I killed her?" There was a slight sparkling gleam in his eyes that I immediately recognised. He really was back.

"Yes."

"Good, though I don't like the idea that you were in danger." His voice had gotten deeper, growlier and I couldn't help but smile at his protective streak.

"I know you don't, you got there in time. I'm fine. Well I haven't actually spoken to Pam since that night but I've heard from Alcide, all of the Weres, the witches and Sam are fine a few injuries amongst the shifters but nothing serious. The vampires though, I'm afraid we had a fatality." It was a strange term to use with vampires because technically they're already dead.

"Who?" He asked instantly, the gleam from earlier completely gone.

"I'm not actually sure, I'm sorry. I haven't been in touch with any of them, I kinda slept most of the day away yesterday and we were, ah, busy last night." I suddenly didn't want to tell him that we'd been intimate last night. I knew it wasn't cheating, he was still him, but I wasn't entirely sure how he'd see it.

"Don't apologise. I know about last night, I can smell you on me." It wasn't really as disgusting as he made it sound, and he didn't mean it in any sort of bad way, it was a simple fact and a human wouldn't have been able to pick up on the scent that he could. "Now, we need to go speak to Pam, as you said, there's lots of time for talking about us later. Possibly in the bath." He waggled his eyebrows at me, a smirk plastered across his face and I hugged him tightly as though I would never let him go.

"I'll hold you to that." Reluctantly I slunk out of his arms in search of my bag and shoes. When I'd got my shoes on, some very comfortable running trainers, I found Eric in the bedroom, pulling his clothes on with one hand while having a conversation with someone that I could only assume was Pam. He held up one finger when he saw me standing in the doorway so I went and got the car keys from the hook.

By the time I'd unlocked the front door and was stepping out onto the front little porch he was directly behind me, now fully dressed and his hair tied back into a low pony tail. Without thinking I headed towards the R8 that was still parked by the front of the house instead of the garage and made to get into the driver's seat.

"Why is the car not in the garage?" He asked, actually running his hand along the faintest trace of stubble on his chin, a sign that he was actually nervous about something.

"I kinda left her there, sorry." He took great care of his cars, typically so did I mainly because they were so expensive. It really wasn't that much of a risk leaving the car outside in plain view, not in our neighbourhood and we were free of hate crimes as ridiculously few people realised a vampire lived here. They knew we ran a bar; they saw me going about daily activities and must have assumed that being up late made us have strange sleeping patterns.

I changed my course of direction after unlocking the car and walked around the front to the passenger side. I'd gotten used to do all of the driving whilst he'd been suffering with amnesia. The only times he'd driven was when I'd actually taken him driving and of course back from the warehouse but I couldn't actually remember that. Once I was inside I tossed him the keys before fastening my best. My hand found its own way to the top of the transmission box, waiting for his hand to rest in mine which it did as soon as he got her in gear. We were back and it was easy just being us. Of course I had some stuff to tell him and I owed him a massive apology.

"Have you been driving the car?" His gaze flickered down to the trip counter which really had taken a hitch since the last time he'd been in here.

"Yeah, I kind of had to. Don't mind do you?" I offered him a weak smile, I didn't think he'd mind, we'd picked the car out together on a special late night dealership opening but doubt always begins to creep in.

"Not at all, why would I? I just didn't think you really liked her." His hand squeezed mine and I barely resisted the urge to throw my arms around his neck and hug him. I'd had him with me for the past few days, but I really head my vampire back. He was also feeling a little guilty still so I don't think he would have minded too much.

"She grows on you; I had to use her as well." At his quizzical glance I added, "Later. Nothing bad, not really."

"Okay." The trust between us had changed, it was no longer the non-thinking trust that you get from someone like a puppy as he had been when he'd originally lost his memories. This between us now was worth more, it was gained trust, I'd earned it and so had he, so that we now trusted each other explicitly.

The rest of the journey was spent in silence although I could tell he was dying (that was completely intended) to ask all of the questions zooming around his head yet he remained quiet, knowing that I would answer everything I could later. At the minute we had more pressing matters and responsibilities; the vampires that we resided over. Well, that Eric resided over. We pulled up into the parking lot of the bar, which surprised me; I'd assumed we'd be going to Pam's house as I didn't even think the bar would be open.

"Why the bar?" I asked as we began to get out, of course my vampire was already at my door, offering me his arm.

"It's shut so it's quite and we honestly need to sort things out. We can't afford to lose any more revenue." He was in business mode but I hardly contained my snort at the last utterance, from what he'd told me about how much money we could offer the witches, we weren't exactly going to be in trouble missing a couple of nights' intake. "I'm looking out for the others." He added, probably having seen my expression and I nodded my head sombrely; I was being too selfish again. Other people weren't as well of as we were.

We walked into the bar using the staff entrance and walked straight down the corridor to Eric's office, I could hear someone talking on a phone in the store room when we passed, the drawl was feminine and I could only assume it was Pam. When I made to go and sit on the comfortable sofa, Eric tugged on my hand, keeping me with him and pulling me onto his lap when he sat down in his office chair.

"I feel like I've been away from your for ages, even though to me it's only one night. You're staying with me." His mischievous grin stretched across his lips and I happily complied, slinking one arm around the back of his shoulders to get comfortable. "Pam!" He called out once he'd leaned away from me so as not to startle me. Before I knew it, the computer was whirring quietly, spread sheets were pulled up, letters were laid out across the desk and Pam was walking through the door.

"Master," she greeted Eric, followed swiftly by a very deep head nod as a sign of respect. She didn't often refer to him as Master although most other vampires did; their relationship and friendship even ran deeper than that, they had a respect for each other that was very difficult to understand. I wasn't even sure that I fully understood it even after all of this time. "Sookie," she turned her pale blue eyes to me and a flicker of what might have been a smile grace her pretty face.

"First, what's happening with the bar, we seem to have been shut for a couple of days." That surprised me, I knew we were shut tonight, and since tomorrow was Monday the bar was scheduled to be shut anyway, but I hadn't realised the closure had stretched any longer than that.

"Staffing problems. The night of the attack I didn't want to spare anyone, too big of a risk." Eric nodded his head in approval but made no comment. This version of him made me proud, that he could resist personal problems when he needed to sort business out for the sake of his subordinates. "The night after was mourning and tonight we simply don't have the stock and we're being threatened by his maker." That was news to me as well; when a vampire was killed at the hands of another vampire, the killer was requested to pay the maker money, sort of compensation. Whoever had died, was killed at the hands of the witches, there shouldn't have been any need for compensation.

"Who died?" There was tiredness in Eric's eyes, a look that said he was getting old, which couldn't really happen. The only way he showed his centuries was through his eyes, one of my favourite features on him.

"Chow."

"How?"

"Werewitches, three that we thought were down for the count ended up banding together, they ended up staking him with a tree branch." Her face was stony as she spoke, not giving any emotion away although she must have been hurting. She liked Chow, at least I thought she did, they seemed to spend a lot of time together. "He went down fighting, took out Mark with him." At least I knew now that we hadn't killed Hallow's brother, her accusations had been false. I couldn't find it within myself to really feel bad about Chow's passing; we weren't friends, we were civil to each other but that was only really because of Eric. If Chow had the choice he wouldn't speak to me, wouldn't grace me with his presence so it was hard to feel any form of loss really.

"Then we offer no compensation. Tell him the Sherriff of the area has decreed it an honest death, I will do further investigation if he still requests it but that is all." Pam nodded her head in acknowledgment.

"What has happened with the stock?"

"We haven't placed an order and we don't have enough drinks to successfully open, if we did we wouldn't satisfy many customers." Eric wasn't pleased about that, his face didn't carry any expression which wasn't a good sign.

"I put one in this afternoon, fast tracked, it will be here by tomorrow evening at the latest." I piped up, gaining two sets of beautifully blue eyes staring at me.

"Good. We will have someone here to sign for it, Ginger?" Pam carefully shook her head ever so slightly and I sucked in a quick breath; I'd actually forgotten about that little piece of information.

"She was used as an example by the witch's, she's still in the hospital."

"Sam?"

"Yes, I'll call her when we're finished." The rest of their conversation passed by in a little bit of a blur and it mainly consisted of talk about the bar, and how fast they could pull together a grand reopening to hopefully gain back some lost revenue. It was only half an hour later that Pam left us alone, they'd finished talking about all the business aspects of his memory loss. It was beginning to take its toll on him; there was a tension in his body that hadn't been present when we'd walked in and he kept absently running his hand through his hair, pulling it out of the band at one point.

When Pam left he turned his attention back to the computer and I simply relaxed back into his chest, staring at his face and twisting locks of his hair around my fingers. He focused on his work, his hands occasionally tracing a pattern on my skin or giving me a caress but otherwise he remained concentrated on his work. His intelligent eyes scanned over pages, flickering over all the information and I just knew he was absorbing everything. His fingers tapped furiously on the keyboard and I lost track of how many emails were sent, how many forms filled in. It was really astounding how much stuff had piled up over the few days he'd been away from the bar. I just hoped that it was because the staff hadn't been prepared; it would be nice to get away somewhere, just me and my vampire.

Sometime later, I'd completely lost track of the time, I became aware that the whir of the computer had changed and after a quick glance I found out it was shutting down. Eric was no longer focused on his work but instead all of his attention was on me with care in his, a slight edge of guilt still marring them. A flickering smile crossed his lips before his eyes fluttered closed and he leant in. I didn't even have to think about it, my own eyes closed and I leant up to meet him, our lips connecting in the middle. Softly we moved together and my fingers cupped his cheeks, holding him to me in a silent wish that the kiss wouldn't end soon. He was nothing but sweet in that moment.

"Come on lover, let's go home."

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**So, whatcha think? You know I love feedback almost as much as a certain Viking vampire. This one was a little mundane I though, I'm gunna try and liven things up a bit for the next chapter. I'm not entirely sure how much more of this story there is but I know I'm definitely over halfway. Thanks for reading. **


	16. Confessions

**Hello! **

**How are you all? I'm rather good, kinda embarrassed because I've ended up in the local paper which was published today, (it's a weekly). Is anybody from the UK reading this? If so do you happen to know where I can get a copy of Rolling Stone magazine? I'm sure you all know why. Anyway, Charlaine Harris owns the wonderful Southern Vampire Mysteries. **

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Within the hour we had parked that car in the garage and I'd managed to have a snack to still my growling stomach. That was how I came to be sat at the kitchen table wondering about where my vampire had disappeared off to; as soon as I'd finished eating, which seemed to have his undivided attention, he stalked from the room and he hadn't returned. Sighing I stood up and went in search of him, following the mental connection which appeared to be working fully again. I'd become aware of that fact while we'd been at the bar and I'd been left alone somewhat with my thoughts.

"Eric?" I called out when I got to the bedroom, which appeared to be empty even though I could have sworn that's where he was supposed to be.

"Yes lover?" He asked as he came to stand in the doorway of the bathroom, clad only in a pair of boxers and water droplets decorating his arms and chest.

"What are you doing?" I asked, perplexed; I couldn't think of any normal thing he could be doing to get him half wet, vampires didn't exactly need to wash in a usual day, they preferred showers anyway.

"Running the bath." He stated easily, turning back around to head into the bathroom where I could hear the sound of running water if I listened closely.

"How did you get water all over you?" I followed behind him and slunk my arm around his waist, not bothered by the dampness there, as we stared down into the steadily filling bathtub. The thing was so huge it usually took quite awhile. We had to have such a large one, it was some form of custom made one I knew that although I refused to know details. Having a six foot four Viking wanting to take a bath needs more than a standard bathtub, especially if he wants to share bath time.

"I was trying to gauge the temperature," he started out and I smiled at him. Temperatures weren't something that came naturally to vampires; they had no body heat and nothing but extremes really bothered them. Hell, they could freeze solid and still turn out okay in the end, although I understood that it was highly painful. "And," he continued playfully, a smirk across his face, "I know you like me when I'm wet, so..." His words trailed off and he wiggled his eyebrows. I lightly slapped his chest with my free hand, not bothering to even try and hide my grin. "Will you watch it for a couple of seconds, I want to grab something." I nodded my head, agreeing, and he silently slipped out of my arm and headed out of the room.

I eased out of my jeans and socks before pulling off my long sleeved t-shirt, which left me in just my underwear that I left on because I knew Eric would want to watch. I'd just turned off the taps, when he padded into the room, making a little noise so as not to frighten me even though I knew he was close. When he was close enough behind me he placed a quick kiss over the still slightly visible fang marks from last night without touching any other part of my body. Finally turning him around I found him completely naked with two wine glasses in his hands and a gracious plenty that seemed mighty pleased to see me.

With a devilish grin he set the glasses down beside the tub, far enough away that any splashes wouldn't disturb them and eased his giant form down into the tub, his face relaxing as he sank within the heat. Shaking my head slightly, but really loving his antics, I slipped my arms out of the straps of my bra and began to reach around to get the clasp. His eyes never left my body, delight evident in the blue depths and I could see his extended fangs through his slightly parted lips as he took in everything. The bra fell to the floor and I began to slide the lace girl boxers down my legs to the sound of breathy growl. As soon as they hit the floor a hand shot out to grip my, pulling me impatiently towards the bathtub which I deftly stepped into. With an easy movement only coming from practice I sat down in the tub, my back pressed up to his chest and his arms wrapped around my waist.

After a couple of minutes of just relaxing in each other's presence he leaned over slightly and handed me one of the glasses before reaching for his own. I took a sip discovering that it was my favourite wine, humming appreciatively. Before I'd met him I'd been a rather simple and occasional drinker, my drink of choice was still gin and tonic, but I'd widened my horizons and I had more than a couple of glasses every couple of months. Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely not dependant on alcohol but I know how to appreciate a good wine and I usually have a glass of something a few nights a week. Running a bar, of at least helping to, typically does that to you as you don't have to directly pay for anything. I felt Eric swallowing what was in his glass, I was guessing at a more expensive brand of blood, before leaning over to put his glass back on the floor.

"So lover," he started out, his mouth so close to my ears that I could feel the breath he'd used for his words tickling the skin. I barely nodded my head to show that I was listening, unable to really speak. "You carry my marks." His tongue traced the barely there marks on my neck and I shivered at the touch. "We made love last night." He kissed the area lightly before returning to just whispering into my ear and I took a rather large gulp of wine to try and calm me down.

"Yes."

"I wish I could remember that." I didn't have to be looking at him to see the type of smile on his face, mischievous and a little disappointed all at the same time. "Was that the only time?" It was a little too typical Eric that that was the first concern on his mind; I couldn't help thinking that he was using this as a little facade to ease himself into the true unknown.

"Yes, we were intimate one other time, but not full sex." I replied after slouching further back so that my head could loll onto his shoulder comfortably. The hot water lapped at my chest with the movement, it helped to keep me relaxed.

"When did you discover me?" His voice was quieter now and I knew that my earlier assumption had been absolutely right.

"I got a call from Pam while I was at work, I came back here to check and I couldn't sleep. Something told me to go back to my old home and I found you on the porch. You didn't have a clue who I was although you could still feel something through our bond; I think it confused you more."

"I'm sorry lover. It actually deeply upsets me to think that I could forget you." He planted a little kiss on my forehead, hard enough that I could tell his fangs had retracted again. I could hear something in his voice making sound thicker than normal, I couldn't think of any better way to describe it. Without moving off of his shoulder I turned enough to be able to see his face. Using the hand that wasn't clutching the glass carefully I cupped his face.

"Wipe that guilt right off your face, you didn't do a single thing wrong mister." I used my stern voice, making sure he knew I was being serious. "Not a damn thing, you were the sweetest thing to me and you still looked out for me. It was those witches that caused all of this and according to Pam, you didn't do a damn thing to aggravate them. One second you were sat in your chair the next you'd disappeared without any explanation." I placed a quick kiss on his lips before pulling back and adding in a much softer voice, "We're back where we should be, don't feel guilty at all."

"Okay." He whispered back before returning my kiss, his lips moving softly with mine and teasing my bottom lip ever so slightly. He pulled back again when his fangs run down, hardness behind the soft lips. The glass was taken from my hand after I'd taken another sip and placed on the floor next to his. Both of his arms wrapped around my waist again, trying to pull me even closer to his chest. My own arms rested on top of his, my head still resting on him and my hair trailing down his back until it met the edge of the bathtub. "Don't mistake this, I'm just concerned. How did you cope when I didn't have memories? Weren't you scared?"

"No, not once was I frightened, not really. When I first found you I didn't know what had happened. You trusted me pretty quickly, I was just a little cautious."

"What happened that I can't remember?" So I told him, in summary at least, everything that had happened whilst he had amnesia, finishing up with last night. "Do you think it was your blood that made me remember?" I honestly hadn't thought about why he remembered, just the fact that he did remember.

"I don't know." It seemed like a plausible theory, blood was the reason we shared a tangible bond and drinking each other's blood only enforced that connection. Taking more of my blood could have catalysed the process of him regaining his memory. "I think it might." I added after a couple of seconds of deliberation.

"I think drinking more might help me regain the memories of the past few days." He made no motion to do anything except continue holding me, so it was as innocent as that statement could be.

"It might." I replied, sighing at the thought of being with him again and the feeling he could create within me with just a look or a touch. I pushed the hot water tap around with my foot, adding more water to the bath since the water had cooled substantially during out talk. "Oh, I almost forgot. I invited Amelia over this weekend; she was going to try out her spell to see if it would help with your memories. Should I still invite her or not?" I switched the tap off and fully relaxed again.

"Invite her, I like Amelia." It was a simple statement but it honestly meant a lot to me; my boyfriend, even though he was so much more than that, got along well with my best friend. "Where will she be staying?" He inquired after a second's thought.

"Spare bedroom, she told me this morning on the phone that we had to keep it down." I giggled softly, happy when I heard his answering chuckle; there'd been several 'almost' incidents involving us and Amelia until I'd moved in with Eric, hell there'd even been two when she'd come to stay with us before.

"I'll still do what I like." He commented, the chuckle still present in his voice, letting me know it was good naturedly said, although he would likely do as he pleased. It was a rare thing making a vampire do something they didn't want to do unless it was a Master telling a subordinate. He chose that point to emphasise his words with his wandering hands, raising one from my waist to massage my right breast and the other slipping lower into the water.

"Okay, if you continue with that you're not going to get a coherent..." my voice trailed off as his fingers delved deeper and his other hands moved to my other breast, teasing the nipple.

"What were you saying lover?" He asked before peppering my neck with kisses, allowing me to feel the hard press of his fangs.

"Sentence outta me..." I paused to catch my breath. "Anything else you want to ask?" I murmured a profanity that was barely intelligible as my face was now pressed into his neck with my mouth open so he could feel my teeth against him.

"Not a thing," he whispered. I had a feeling more questions would come later but honestly, it was deep down in my mind. At that moment I just didn't care and I let myself go, trusting myself to his very capable hands.

With a spring in my step I went about my duties the next day, even though I felt like I was swamped. The message from Pam was informative; announcing that a plan had been pulled together for a 'grand reopening' with the official line being there'd been some minor refurbishment works. That meant the bar had a quick lick of paint to keep up appearances to the public since we couldn't tell them we'd been attacking a local were-witch coven. She'd also left the plans that I had to get through during the day so that everything would be ready in time so no pressure or anything.

Getting up had been surprisingly hard and I spent the longest time just staring at my vampire, relishing in the fact that I had him back completely now. When I'd tried to get out his arm actually seemed to tighten around me as though he knew, even in sleep which pretty much left him dead to the world, that he was back and he was here to stay. Everything else had been routine and I'd felt more refreshed that I had in a long time even though I got up at a very reasonable time; before the hours in the morning reached double figures, which wasn't all that familiar with me.

I was only at home for about an hour, enough time to call Sam and see when he wanted me back at work, Wednesday for the evening shift, before I left to go to Fangtasia. I was the first to arrive though a couple of waitresses had been scheduled to come in so that they could help with the expected large delivery. Eric's was office was exactly the same as last night, which was exactly how I liked it; comfortable yet professional although if you knew what you were looking for you could pick up on his personality shining through. Old posters promoting the bar decorated the walls in certain places, making larger posters and on his desk there was a mouse pad that held a funny quote and picture about a vampire kitten that I'd bought for him on impulse. Hardly anyone could tell what it was from the opposite side of the desk and he found it amusing. When the computer started up I was also greeted by a rolling screensaver of personal photographs including me and Eric together.

When I opened up the business email account I was greeted by an impressive email from a design company that had managed to put together a poster for the reopening. Smiling to myself I forwarded the poster to everyone in our contacts list and printed several hundred out for one of the waitresses to distribute on cars in the local mall. The next few hours passed quickly and I had pretty much sorted out everything I could, even picking a crate of synthetic blood because our home stock was running low. The delivery had arrived and been put away so I made myself scarce and headed back to my vampire, hoping that he had remembered everything now, including his amnesia days.

It was about an hour until sunset when I arrived at home, dumping everything in the kitchen and making my way quickly to the bedroom where I knew Eric would be waking for the day soon. In high spirits I bounded onto the bed, letting my body bounce on the bed which didn't even manage to stir Eric's body. I had doubts in my head about how he would feel about his time spent here with amnesia; he'd been quite out of character, especially at the beginning, at my behaviour then probably hadn't been the best.

"Eric," I called out lightly, my mouth near his ear so that he'd stand a chance of hearing me from my stupor. I began to plant kisses on his lips, barely getting a flicker of recognition from him as his lips twitched in response to the kisses. Pulling out the big guns I sent lust down the bond to him and instantly felt him begin to stir. I deepened my kiss, letting my tongue trail across his lips invitingly until I he started kissing back. Stifling my giggles I rolled away only to be trapped by a very muscular arm.

"You're not going anywhere," he growled as his eyes snapped open, already darker than normal before positioning himself over my, essentially blocking off every route of escape. His long hair fell down over his face, keeping us in our own little curtain of blond. "Good evening lover," he added with a smirk. His lips found mine again, kissing me deeply and his tongue instantly working its way into my mouth to dance with mine. Eventually he pulled away; by that time my fingers were threaded through his hair, holding him so tightly against me that his lips were still brushing mine. "What time is it? The sun isn't down." From such a close proximity to him his expression of deep thought was quite amusing, especially when it turned grumpy when he realised it was early.

"Just after four," I grinned and couldn't help but laugh when he growled at me before rolling off of me and onto his back, throwing an arm over his eyes in fake annoyance. There was only amusement coming through the bond and I noticed that his biceps were tensed, showing them off. "Oh come on, you gotta admit you liked my method." I teased as I leant over him, peppering his mouth with kisses that he simply couldn't not respond to. "I'm sorry baby." I kissed him, not bothering to stop smiling as I do so. Another growl reverberated around his kiss and I was done for, falling back with light hearted laughter tumbling out of my mouth.

"Waking me up early woman," he ground out, his sparkling blue eyes focused on mine, letting me know that he really wasn't angry. We were interrupted by the shrill ringing of a mobile phone from somewhere in the bedroom. "Ah." He sighed as he tossed the duvet back and stood up from the bed in search of his ringing phone. I simply relaxed back onto the mattress, enjoying the view of his naked behind. When he finally found in the pocket of his jeans that had been thrown over the back of the chair he stayed with his back to me, knowing how much I enjoyed him from this angle. "What?" I knew with that word that he wanted nothing more in that moment than to crawl back into bed with me. "Fine. Forty five minutes." He tossed the phone back onto the chair and stalked over to me, leaning over the bed with his hands pressed into the pillow at either side of my head.

"Who was that?" I asked quietly, my eyes focused on his lips.

"Pam, she says she needs to see us down at Fangtasia, we don't have time." He stated sadly, his eyes flickering down and across my body before settling back on my eyes. Finally he leant down those extra few inches and brushed his lips across mine.

"Come here," I whispered against him when I had to pull away for oxygen and I tugged on his arm for extra emphasis so he knew I wanted him to lie down with me. He tumbled over me, to come to lie in his original position without even ruffling my clothes. Sometimes the grace and agility of vampires still manages to impress me with new abilities.

"What's wrong lover?" He asked sweetly with his head sharing my pillow and his hands on my stomach where he pushed up my shirt so he could rest on my bare skin.

"I was just wondering, did you remember anything?" My voice caught slightly at the end, I wasn't entirely sure why I felt that way since he'd regained the most important memories and I had my vampire back.

"I'm afraid not, I don't even have a blank in my mind, just a slight sense that something's missing." He shrugged his massive shoulders before pulling me tightly into his chest, tucking my head underneath his chin. "Don't worry, I have the important ones. I can't deny it doesn't bother me a little though." He added honestly

"I really thought the blood would work."

"Me too. Why does it bother you so much? Did something important happen?" He'd pushed me back a couple of inches so he could see my eyes, making sure I was completely honest.

"I'm not really sure. Nothing more than what you already know happened; I just wish I could share it with you, it still kinda freaks me out a little. I'm used to talking about everything with you."

"I know. I will remember one day, you can still talk to me." He nuzzled into my neck with his nose, breathing deeply so that he could take in my scent which he seemed to love.

"I know. I think I have to tell you something though, it's selfish though." He pulled back sharply then, his eyes blurred with confusion and eyebrows furrowed.

"What's wrong?" There was nothing but concern in his voice. This probably wasn't the best time for this discussion, since we now only had forty minutes to be at the bar.

"When you first suffered with amnesia, I was kind of selfish and a little horrible to you. I concentrated on how it hurt me, not you and I said a few things I regret deeply, I apologised for them. I actually considered making Pam help me out." He lay beside me silently for a few long and tense moments before his expression softened completely and the sparkle rejuvenated his eyes.

"Don't worry lover, you didn't give up on me. You stuck by me." He shrugged his shoulders, the movement jostling me slightly, showing me that it really wasn't anything major in his mind.

"You really don't mind?" I was disbelieving, I'd expected it to be much worse to tell him.

"No, we're fine. It must have been horrible. Now, no more talk of this. We're going to be late." His nose went back to my neck and I could feel his breath fluttering across my skin since he was taking in me.

"Just one more minute," I pleaded quietly, knowing that I'd succeeded when I heard him chuckle.

"You know you smell like me, my scent is completely mixed with yours. I like it." We'd regained our light heartedness even though his words were quite serious. "I love you Sookie." He stated simply and then planted a soft kiss on my neck.  
"I love you too." I whispered back. Apparently my words were all he needed to here because the next instant he got off the bed and disappeared into the bathroom, leaving the door open so I could see him reaching for a toothbrush.

Less than five minutes later, how did men manage to get away with doing barely nothing and still look incredible, we were walking out of the house to go around to the garage. Eric strolled lazily, hiding the fact that he was actually quite unnerved by Pam's phone call, over to one of the Porsches. The lights flashed and he climbed gracefully into the driver's side, pulling forward so that I could get in with more space and I recognised the car as the Cayman S. I only knew that because the title was scrawled across the back, I couldn't distinguish between the Porsches, they weren't particularly my favourite, though if I had to choose it would probably be some form of 911 turbo.

The journey to Fangtasia was spent in companionable silence and Aerosmith with their undisguised sexual lyrics blasting out of the stereo all the way to the parking lot where Eric eventually turned the music level down a little. As usual my door was opened with a hand offered for assistance before I'd unfastened my seat belt and just as normally I accepted the hand, not letting him go until we were had passed through the staff entrance. Walking down the corridor I could hear lots of background noise from the bar since the door separating private and public areas was open for once, showing the scurrying bodies that were working swiftly to make the bar at least appear to have had some refurbishment work done during the closure.

I was right on Eric's heels walking down the corridor listening to him tell me his ideas for the party and how he wanted me on his arm. He always asked me to these things, never just assuming I'd go. Well, asking would be a little bit of an overstatement, he posed it as a statement, just heightening the pitch of his voice ever so slightly at the end to add in the questioning lilt. He knew I'd say yes anyway. What I wasn't prepared for though was someone already sat in the guest chair inside Eric's office. That never happened, no one went in their without permission and hardly anyone was allowed in their on their own, I was one of the few.

"Pam?" Eric greeted and questioned her in one as he walked behind the desk to take his seat in the high backed office chair there. I took my position in the other chair at his side of the desk which I'd left there from earlier this afternoon when I'd used it to prop my feet on, getting more comfortable.

"I have something I need to tell you."

"What haven't you told me?" He cut to the quick straight away, a flicker of guilt washing over Pam's beautiful face. She'd said nothing about holding something out on him, just saying she had something new to tell him, it was Eric's own perception that she'd lied. My interest piqued, but also rather wary, I leaned back in my chair and tried to stay out of their way.

"It's about the night that you were cursed," she started out, keeping her voice level and her eyes trained on Eric. Whatever this was, it was also news to me and I just knew it couldn't be good.

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**So there ya go, kinda short but I liked it. What did you think? You know I love feedback almost as much as a certain Viking vampire **** Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, brilliant, especially NorthmanLvr who I couldn't reply to. Have a good weekend guys. **


	17. Secrets and Lies

**Hey guys,**

**How are you all? First of all, did you see the picks from the Emmy's last night? Mmm mmm. *pretends to be the Fox's Biscuit panda* I had a discussion in the car today with my mum about whether a man lucks better in a suit or a uniform – I said suit/tux, she said uniform, which do you think? Right, serious side of things now, well more serious. I have a definitive plan now for my next story not just ideas circulating my head, and most of that definitive plan is thanks to juniperjuniper2 who set me on the right tracks. So, since I've got university starting up soon and I won't be able to even give the little checks over that I give my stories now I was wondering if anyone wanted to be a beta reader? Just lemme know if you're at all interested and I'll send a plan out **** Anyway, Charlaine Harris owns the wonderful Southern Vampire Mysteries**

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I exchanged a nervous glance with Pam who had crimson tears running down her porcelain cheeks and slouched down into my chair, hoping that it would swallow me whole, therefore taking me out of the situation. Eric had just stormed down the corridor, shouting at us both to remain where we were. His voice had dripped with ice, sending shivers shooting down my spine in a way they never had before. I could understand that he felt betrayed and hurt; his own child had withheld information from him, but it had only been for twenty four hours and there wasn't much that could be done about the vampire that had caused all of the problems or at least the majority of the problems.

"What's he doing?" I whispered, eyes still trained on the door that had been left open and scared that he would somehow still be able to hear me even though I'd heard the door to the outside shut behind him. It had closed quite softly actually, not an immature slam.

"Calming down, he's angry but he doesn't want to be irrational." I nodded my understanding and finally turned my attention to Pam.

She was sat in the guest chair, just your typical office chair; predominantly plastic with a little bit of padding on the seat and the back for extra comfort. Her legs were crossed at the ankle and tucked underneath her chair in a fashion that reminded me she wasn't from these times; it showed her upbringing since nobody tended to sit like that anymore. She was dressed in her usual pastel shades; beige trousers teamed with soft leather ankle boots and a tan jumper. Long blond hair, darker than mine, was hanging down perfectly straight although it was tucked behind her ears. She'd been frequently making the gesture of tucking it behind her ears all the time she'd been talking, a sign of her nervousness.

Her gaze lifted from the floor then, imploring me to understand her motives for the withholding of the truth. Honestly I was truly angry at her; she'd withheld serious information from us for near enough a week which. I wasn't entirely sure what we would have done with the information, it would have been me that would have had to decide since Eric had amnesia but it would have been good to know. Chow wouldn't have taken punishment from me though and he'd had his second death so I couldn't even do that. I probably wouldn't have succeeded in killing him but I would have given it a shot in defence of my vampire. However, on the flip side of the anger I could almost understand where she was coming from on this. She'd just discovered that one of her closest friends thought of her in a romantic and not platonic light whilst having to cope with essentially running a bar and an Area as the second in command to Eric whilst dealing with the stress of having a master with amnesia. I knew then that she hadn't spilled everything that was weighing down her non beating heart; she could only tell me.

"What's wrong?" I whispered quietly on the off chance that we could be overheard even though Eric was outside. I stood from my chair behind the desk to perch on the edge near where she was sat. "What aren't you telling him?" A fresh wave of blood trickled down her cheeks and I couldn't sit idly by any longer; I was angry with her but she was still my friend. I dropped down to the floor to kneel in front of her taking her cool hands in mine, holding them tightly in support.

"I'm so sorry Sookie. I didn't mean to keep it from you for so long I just knew there was nothing we could do. He wouldn't have taken your orders or punishment, he wouldn't have taken mine and I doubt Eric's when he had amnesia."

"It's going to be okay." I couldn't say it _was_ okay, because it honestly wasn't but we'd get through the lies. Eric would calm down and see that it didn't ultimately affect anything since the vampire was dead and we couldn't turn back time.

"It hurt so much seeing Eric like that. I think I hurt almost as much as you. I've known him for nearly two centuries, he's my maker and my friend. I feel like I abandoned him, I don't deserve to be his second, look how everything turned out." She rolled her head in a sweeping motion indicating that she meant everything; the bar, the fight, the area and herself.

"The bar shut for a few nights, that's hardly all your fault, it's everyone in the team not working together effectively. You weren't prepared for any of this, you were thrust into it. I think you did fine on whole. The Area is perfectly fine which is the main thing. The attack worked and we got Eric back. You didn't abandon him at all, he always had me. This will all blow over, he'll realise he's being slightly irrational. I think it's mainly aimed at Chow anyway." I squeezed her hands tightly then pulled back, heading to the little cupboard we kept behind the desk where random items were kept including shirts for Eric, clothes for me and additional office supplies for the room. I reached in and pulled out what I was looking for; a black hand towel with the Fangtasia logo scrawled across it in scarlet.

"He's coming back." Pam stated, breaking the silence in the room. Vampire hearing; I don't think I'd ever get entirely used to it since I hadn't even heard the door open yet.

"Here you go," I replied, handing over the towel to her outstretched hands which she immediately used to wipe away the blood from her cheeks. Just as the soft cotton touched her skin the distinct creak of the heavy staff entrance door opening sounded.

Eric walked calmly back into the room, his body still held too straight with tension but better than it had been when he'd walked out. I thought him going to calm down was a sign of how much he cared for Pam, any other vampire he would have just let have his worth, not bothering too much with the consequences. On his way back to his chair he placed a gentle kiss on my forehead, grasping my hand as he did so to lead me back to my own seat. Sighing, which wasn't a natural behaviour for a vampire he lifted his head to take in Pam's state.

"For withholding the truth you are to take waitress duties for a month, you're retaining your position as my second in command. You are to take on extra responsibilities around the bar and Area 5 to make sure you do a better job the next time you are needed to take over in an emergency. In light of this news, Chow's maker will be receiving nothing, I repeat nothing, from us. Leave us now." Eric nodded, barely, once in dismissal before turning his attention from Pam to me. I couldn't keep the slightly astonished look off of my face; he was being exceptionally reasonable. The punishment however would be excellent in the sense that it would work well; Pam hated waitressing duties, in fact all vampires did, they didn't like to think of themselves as subordinates to humans, you were lucky if they thought of you as equal. I tended to be lucky with the vampires that surrounded me.

Pam left silently, taking the towel with her which left me and Eric alone. His arms opened up immediately, inviting me into his embrace which I gladly accepted, perching on his lap and wrapping my own arms around his neck, snuggling into him. His arms in turn wrapped tightly around me, making sure I wasn't going anywhere.

"Where did you go?" I asked after a few seconds of just basking in the safety and comfort that he offered.

"I went to the car that's all. I'm angry, more so, I'm livid, but it's not with Pam, not entirely anyway. If Chow was here I think I would rip off his head, consequences be damned. I had to calm down so I wouldn't give out something that I later regretted; you can't go back on your punishment."

"I think you did very well." I placed a sweet kiss on the side of his neck, the only skin that was in easy reaching distance for me.

"What did you think of it all lover?"

"I can't believe what Chow did, I mean, I know he's not the most loyal of people to me but I thought he was loyal to you, he was your third! I feel bad for Pam though, finding out in front of a witch during an argument that one of her friends likes her romantically. No woman wants that." My words were received with a slight, flickering smile and a kiss to the top of my head. "What's that for?"

"Only you could think like that, about Pam's feelings after she lied and about finding out about a relationship instead of Chow's later actions." There was genuine amusement in his beautiful eyes when I looked up at him; it was taking the edge off of the anger that still filled them.

"Well there's not much to do about it now, we can't stop him and stop the curse from happening."

"No, but I believe that if he had either restrained himself when the witch insulted Pam before they reached my office or in my office we wouldn't have had to deal with any of this."

"He was defending Pam!" I said, a little more harshly than I'd really intended and my head was no longer resting on his shoulder.

"Are you defending Chow?" He asked me, the smile no longer flickering but strong and constant.

"No, I'm defending the act of defending your woman. Can you say you would have done differently if the witch had insulted me instead of Pam?" I rose one eyebrow up at him in question, I was pretty certain he would have had at least a similar reaction.

"Yes."

"What?" I spluttered, not bothering to hide my disbelief which only caused him to chuckle, wiping the rest of the anger out of him for the time being.

"I wouldn't have just snapped at her, I would have done bodily harm, made her apologise." He shrugged his impressive shoulders as though the action was nothing, which to him it wasn't. I still didn't like him settling my issues with violence, a trait he hadn't stopped but which he was improving on. "I know you wouldn't have liked it but since she was an enemy, it would have happened." I huffed at him even though there was no arguing with him, it was the way he saw things and after all of his centuries he wasn't likely to change completely on that front.

"I really can't get past that it was Chow. Irina maybe, she has problems with authority already."

"Which is why she will never rise within the ranks." Eric added quickly before I could continue with my next utterance.

"I sort of understand his reaction when he and Pam first met the witch; he was defending her although I don't condone it. Probably not handled the best but still. Pam told the witch she rescinded her offer of being taken for the week in your place and she scoffed, I think anyone with feelings would help out, he should have known Pam is more than capable of managing on her own."

"I still don't understand why I don't remember him attacking the witch in my office; I was still present in the room so I hadn't been cursed." A deep furrow developed between his blond eyebrows, making him actually look quite adorable and as younger as his human twenty four years. He didn't look old, but ages were different when he was alive and his centuries added years to his eyes.

"Unless the curse operated in two parts; wiping you of your memories and then taking you to be closest to the person you loved most. That would explain if the memory loss occurred first why you can't remember him attacking or it could have just been a slow effecting spell or something."

"Yes, I just can't believe I don't remember him testing my authority. In that sort of situation, with an enemy within the room, testing your Master power, even verbally is punishable with pain, he was risking a lot."

"How many times did Pam say you had to command him to sit down?" I asked quietly, once again taking up my place against his chest and head on his shoulder.

"Twice. The first time I can almost understand me just commanding him to sit and dealing with it later, the second he would have been sent out straight away, enemies be damned. Apparently it was just after the second time, I'd turned my back to calm myself down so I didn't do something stupid to the witch when Chow attacked. When Pam had gotten him off of the witch I was gone." It was bothering him more than he was letting on, not remembering everything that had happened.

"What are we going to do now then?"

"Nothing we really can do. Pam is being punished, I can't do anything with Chow, I am not paying his maker though. I think we should go home, it's a big day tomorrow what with the party."

I slowly unwound myself from his arms and stood up, waiting until he'd taken my hand to walk towards the door. The light was turned off behind us and we made our way silently out to the car without bothering to say goodbye to anyone. It was only on the way back home, we were already half way there, that I realised I'd forgotten to ask something.

"What happened to the witches that were left alive? I haven't heard anything about them since I knew that a few survived." If Pam had spoken about it yesterday I hadn't heard it but I hadn't been paying full attention all of the time.

"They had their memories wiped, we replaced them with memories of joining a new coven that didn't work. Essentially the same events dimmed down, if they go anywhere near vampire blood again they will be almost physically ill. They are being rehabilitated by the local coven, they are likely to be moved on soon though."

"How come they weren't killed?" It was a horrible idea to have but you get sort of used to having horrible thoughts when you're surrounded by them, or at least surrounded by vampires. Vampires weren't renowned for their compassion or leniency.

"They were the weakest within the group, almost coerced into their positions. Apparently they were checked out."

I interrupted him then, anger contained in my voice once again. "Why didn't they ask me? I'm better than some vampires at getting information from minds!"

"I know lover, and I honestly don't know why they didn't ask you. I imagine they assumed because they're supernaturals that you wouldn't be able to get a good reading."

"They're witches, they have the closest brain patterns to humans that I've found. Contact works, I could have easily gotten what they wanted."

"I know lover." His hand squeezed mine where they were placed on top of the transmission box like usual. "It doesn't seem like they were thinking properly though does it." There wasn't a question in his voice and we spent the rest of the journey in silence, deep within our own thoughts.

Where I could see that Eric was hurt by Pam's actions I knew there would be no real problems between the two; Pam would do everything she could to prove herself and she would. Eric would find where the majority of his anger was; about six feet under with a secondly dead vampire. I couldn't help but wonder whether I would get any of the blame for this bartender's death like I had with the others. Honestly this was the death that I was farthest removed from, the link between me and Chow was tenuous and I hadn't taken part in the battle in which he died, not really anyway. Even in locked inside our own heads I could feel Eric's brooding silence and the contemplative nature of his mindset, even though I couldn't tell a thing about his actual thoughts.

We soon arrived home and I headed straight to the kitchen, after kicking off my shoes and exchanging my coat for a fleece sweater, to get myself something to eat. Eric followed me, got his own bottle of synthetic blood and promptly left the room, offering me a wide smile to ease my ponderings; with a smile like that it couldn't be anything bad. In fact, if I didn't know any better I'd say he was completely up to mischief. Sighing, I went on with dinner knowing that if he was doing something secretive I wouldn't get it out of him until he was willing to tell me. What our relationship had told me was that he never kept anything important or really bad from me, these little behaviour stunts tended to end in good surprise for me.

I was washing up my plate and glass when I heard his deep voice talking to someone of the phone, glancing at the handset in the kitchen told me he was using his mobile which meant I couldn't even really guess at who he was speaking to. His bond told me he was enjoying the conversation and it was something he was excited about but apart from that it was a let done. Somewhat surprisingly it was moments like these I cherished; due to telepathy they were quite rare for me, in fact I hadn't experience one until I'd met Eric and for me it set him even further apart from other men.

"What time does the public party start tomorrow?" His head was poking around the door to the kitchen and he somehow still managed to look impressive with stray strands of pale blond hair falling in front of his eyes. He was imposing to most people even when he tried not to be.

"Six thirty, why?" I replied back, wondering why he didn't have that time in his head already and who he could possibly be telling the public time to since most people we knew would be arriving when they wanted to or could arrive.

"I couldn't recall, I just know we're going as soon after sundown as possible." His head ducked back out of the room before I could question him and his deep voice grew quieter, my only indication that he was walking back down the hallway, to which room though I didn't know.

With everything clean in the kitchen I headed to the bedroom, more specifically the closet and got on with an activity that I simply couldn't put off. I would have procrastinated longer if my vampire had been around. I stepped into our impressive closet, I was only slightly ashamed to admit that Eric's wardrobe selection was nearly as big as mine and when we'd first met it had been considerably larger. I headed straight to the back where I kept my more formal dress and began routing around the hangers for something that would be suitable to wear for the party, knowing that I would need to wear an actual dress.

"What are you looking for lover?" Eric asked from close behind me, not making me jump since I'd felt his presence.

"Something to wear for tomorrow," I replied, not bothering to look back at him from the dress I was inspecting.

"Typical woman," he stated with a hint of amusement in his voice before bending his head to place a kiss on my neck, brushing his teeth lightly over the skin which sent a light shiver running down my spine.

"So who were you talking to?" I asked, simply unable to keep the question from tumbling out. He chuckled lightly, his head still bent down to my neck and his arms wrapped around my waist.

"You'll find out soon enough."

"Well, you're in a better mood." I noted simply, picking the hangar up off of the rail and turning around to walk back out of the closet, paying as little attention to my Viking limpet as possible, which was actually quite a lot of attention.

"Yes, there's nothing I can do about Chow as much as I wish I could. Pam has been punished, she won't do anything of the sort again. I think we need to move on from this whole thing. I actually want to remember the incident and then forget it all over again."

"Speaking of Pam, you know how the waitresses wear name tags?"

"Yes?" He asked speculatively, probably wondering where I could be going with my observation.

"I think you should have hers read Pammy."

"You would make an excellent vampire." He kissed my neck again.

"I know." I could feel his lips stretch into a broad grin at that statement. Most people actually wondered why I didn't turn if they didn't know us properly. Truth is we'd discussed it, we just wanted to grow a little more as a couple first before committing fully. Of course, that was my idea and not his. He'd committed himself to our relationship so he would be completely loyal. When the tension of the past couple of weeks had passed us by I would have to seriously consider out stance on that, we'd been through a major test and we seemed have excelled after a somewhat rocky start.

I placed the dress on the door of the closet, ready for tomorrow evening before unravelling the vampire from around my waist. "Stay." I told him firmly which only made him try and cling on tighter. Giving up I began unbuttoning my jeans and easing them down my legs which of course instantly made him let go so he could watch me better.

"Lover," he whispered from the bed, his eyes blazing with desire that I was on the edge of giving into. I was only dressed in my underwear and he was currently holding my pyjamas in a death grip.

"Eric, last night, the night before, several times each. A girl needs to rest." My excuse was minimal at best.

"There's other things."

To say I gave in would be the understatement of the year. I made it into bed for a reasonable hour, I didn't however sleep at a reasonable hour which is why I was wide awake in the early hours of the morning snuggling with my vampire, sometimes I could swear he needed a good hug as much as me and I'm the girl.

"What was I like without my memories?" He asked quietly, barely breaking the silence that we were enveloped in.

"Like a puppy," I mumbled in reply not really thinking about what I was saying. It was only afterwards, when I felt his body turn to stone underneath me that I realised what I had said.

"What do you mean?" He asked with caution evident in his tone, clearly alarmed by what I'd revealed.

"You followed me around, of course you were cautious at first but you became comfortable around me, you followed me everywhere. At one point you told me to never leave you and I was only going in the next room." I smiled, lifting up from my position tucked up against his side so that I could rest on my eyebrows and watch the emotion playing on his face. Despite being tired I would enjoy this particular conversation. "If anything, I'd say a little dachshund; loyal, attentive, following in the shadow, quiet and stubborn almost to the point of frustration." He growled at my words, the sound reverberating around his chest.

"Did you just liken me to a lap dog?" He asked incredulous; amusement and disbelief were battling for prominent position on his features.

"Yes. Would you like me to elaborate further?" I smirked; loving the way that he was squirming on the bed at the idea he acted so vulnerable.

"As long as there's no dog references." He admitted sulkily and I giggled aloud at him before resting my head on his chest to continue speaking.

"You were so confused in the beginning, it hurt to see you like that, I've only ever really known the confident you. It was almost like you hadn't lost your naivety although you knew not to trust everyone you met. I'm still not entirely sure why you trusted me to begin with, I was just a stranger to you making you get in my car but you did after not too much hesitation."

"The bond," he stated easily and I nodded, I myself had put his trust in me down to the connection we shared even though at the time he had no idea what it was.

"You didn't leave me alone, not in a bad way, I think you were just apprehensive about being alone. You began to think of me as yours, which was novel to you since you hadn't anything that you could call yours, you didn't even have your own memories."

"That sounds reasonable, you are mine though lover." At one point, him claiming me as his disturbed me, but I'd grown to quite like it, especially after he explained the meaning of it, in vampire circles, to me and he also stated that he was mine.

"I know, you Eric Northman are mine." He smiled broadly at me; he liked the phrasing of those simple statements to an extent that I doubted I would ever fully comprehend while still being human.

"I was good to you wasn't I?" He asked after a few seconds of quiet, it was posed only as a half question.

"Of course; you were sweet and kind, and a little shy. When you first kissed me when you had amnesia you basically asked me if it was alright." I let those words sink in; watching eyes grow wide at the images running through his head but it wasn't long until something flickered in those beautiful eyes. "What?"

I didn't get a verbal response and I really couldn't complain. His hands grasped my torso just underneath my arms to pull me up the bed so that I was laid on my back, head on the pillows with Eric above me. He wasted no time in bowing his and placing his soft lips on mine. His body leaned into my so he could settle down between my legs while his hands roamed up into my hair, tugging lightly at the locks. His groan against my lips spurred me on and I kissed him back, my tongue tracing along his bottom lip until his mouth opened up to allow our tongues to explore. His cool body elicited a burning flame within me, only burning bright the more his attentive mouth move against me. His elongated fangs alluded to danger of blood, I could feel the sharp points against my tongue and the hard press of them on my lower lip. All too soon he pulled back leaving me panting and surprisingly content.

"Hmm," I hummed appreciatively as I was pulled into his side and I curled up against his naked body.

"Anything else you want to tell me?" He asked amid a deep chuckle.

"Nope, you grew more like yourself with time though, at one point you started calling me 'lover' even though you didn't remember it." He nodded; I could feel the movement above my head. "That made me happy." I added simply.

"You should sleep lover," I could hear the smile in his voice. "It's a big night tomorrow. Good night." He kissed the top of my head and stayed with me until I'd fallen asleep which really didn't take very long.

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**So what did you think? You know I love feedback almost as much as I love a certain Viking vampire. I'll warn you now this story only has one more definite chapter left, I might break it into too if it starts getting excessively long but that's it which is why I'm starting up the next story. Thanks for reading and happy bank holiday Monday anybody out there who is lucky enough to have the day off. I spent the day shopping using my dad's money since he's in Italy. Have a good week guys *hugs***


	18. Surprises and Partners

**Hello guys!**

**Well, here it is, the final chapter of Remember. I just want to say everyone who has read, reviewed or any form of alerted this story. It makes me really happy that my story is appreciated. I think you'll like this chapter, since you really liked any other chapter like this. Charlaine Harris owns the wonderful Southern Vampire Mysteries and on with the final chapter. **

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I spent the next day, having woken up at a surprisingly reasonable time, cleaning the house and simply doing the day to day chores that needed done which even included running to the local store to pick up some groceries. By the time early evening was starting, the sun beginning to set in the sky, I had already been in the shower and I was sat at the old fashioned vanity table that was tucked up in the corner of the room. My array of make-up was scattered across the wooden table top with hair accessories intermittently dispersed amongst the brushes and palettes.

I carefully applied my make-up, going heavy on the darker eye shadow but still managing to find shades that would compliment my pale blue eyes. I took my time, allowing myself to completely relax in the quiet that had taken over the house since I was essentially alone. Eric was snoozing in the bed, the curtains of the canopy were open where I'd crawled out earlier and hadn't bothered to shut them again since there wasn't any real need. I could see his naked body sprawled across the giant bed in the mirror so I didn't even have to turn around to see him. Quite sadly he had the duvet pulled up high enough to cover up his bottom but low enough to tease about the treat that was down. I could see his pale back though and some of the muscles there were bunched since his arms were folded up underneath his head, acting as an additional pillow. His face was turned so that I could see it and he had quite an adorable expression on his face since he was crushed up against the bedding, completely at peace.

I applied the finishing touches to my make-up that I could safely put on this long before actually going out; I would take the make-up that I'd actually applied with me to the bar so that I could do touch ups as needed. I pulled the towel down from my hair and ran the brush through the still damp locks before pulling it back into a loose bobble where I turned the knot into a messy bun that would accentuate the natural waves when I released my hair. I pulled off my bathrobe and pulled on my black lace lingerie; you couldn't get dressed up all fancy without going fancy all the way, and like an alarm clock sounding Eric was awake and openly staring at me.

"Good evening lover," he drawled his accent more prominent than normal since he'd just awoken.

"Hi," I replied, staring at him through the mirror that sat atop the vanity. I felt comfortable under his gaze and I didn't bother to cover myself up, instead I enjoyed his staring knowing that he was enjoying the view. Watching intently I saw him stand up from the bed, stretching his arms above his head purely for my benefit before coming to stand behind me where he wrapped his arms possessively around my waist. Open mouthed kisses were instantly planted along my neck, his fangs brushing the flesh.

"I want nothing more than to take you back to bed but I have plans for tonight." He emphasised his work with a little nip to my ear lobe which caused a small moan to escape my lips. "You're making it rather difficult lover." He added and then pulled himself away quickly, disappearing into the bathroom and closing the door behind him decisively. I couldn't but laugh at his action but turned around and began to get dressed. Once I was finished, I collected everything I needed and went into the living room to wait for Eric, not wanting to give him any temptation as he wasn't best known for resisting a tumble.

"Ready," Eric called out and I stepped out of the lounge to join him, enjoying the couple of seconds he took to scan over my body, taking everything in.

I was wearing what I could only describe as a short evening gown which I wouldn't dispute had an element of prom dress in it as well. The netting of the dress danced over my knees but the black satin material was about three inches shorter which gave the dress a swinging affect whenever I twirled around which made me feel even more feminine. The dress was predominantly black, including the netting which had a band of crimson satin running around the edge. The bodice was corset style, making my cleavage impressive which I knew Eric would enjoy even if his jealous side might show through. The crimson edges wrapped around my waist, enhancing the slenderness there and again around the top of the bodice. The colour was particularly affective being mixed with the black and my pale skin. A simply white gold chain necklace and matching bracelet finished were my only accessories. I was wearing a pair of striking red stilettos that I wasn't entirely confident about walking in but I knew that Eric would never allow anything to happen to me. Smiling at his gaze I reached up and pulled the bobble out of my hair and ran my fingers through the locks to tease out any tangles that had formed.

"I think we had better go before I decide against it all together." He placed one kiss on my lips, far from chaste with his tongue licking along my lower lip but probing no further. I groaned at the loss of contact, having felt his fangs run down during the kiss. I settled for looping my hand around his and we head towards the garage to decide what car to take. In the end, after a surprisingly large amount of deliberation we decided on the Audi TT RS roadster in a gorgeous shade of blue and it even had a soft top for the warmer nights.

"So when do I found out about the phone call last night?" I asked after a comfortable silent journey to the bar; we were currently entering the parking lot and pulled into the designated bay. Happily there was already a queue working its way around the building even though the doors didn't open for another half an hour and the party itself didn't formally get underway for an hour.

"Soon," he replied cryptically, giving me a kiss on the lips that was too brief for me to even think about responding and the next instant he had the passenger door open with his hand held out for me. I gladly took his hand squeezing tighter than normal due to the high heels I was wearing. Walking confidently, I'd found it was the best way to not fall flat on my face or sprain an ankle, we made our way past the waiting crowd of people, for the most part blocked out their calls, and wound up in front of the main doors where a vampire bouncer stood waiting.

"Eric, Sookie," he greeted with a deep bow of his head that actually managed to incorporate me as well. This vampire was young, both human age as he didn't appear a day over twenty five, and he was less than half a century in vampire years as well. Younger vampires seemed to accept humans better, I supposed they could remember their human days more clearly. Eric admitted with no shame, that a lot of his human days were hazy now even though he could still picture every member of his family and friends when thinking even though he no longer thought about them every day. "Most people are here, are we still waiting to let people in?"

"Fifteen minutes early, make sure you check all ID," Eric replied quickly and began to escort me into the open door that the young vampire was opening for us.

"Okay. I also wanted to warn you; Pam isn't in a good mood." He smiled apologetically at us, as though it was somehow his fault when it really wouldn't have been before closing the door softly behind us. We were stood in the main bar area which had all of the lights on, letting me really see what the bar looked like. The walls had been repainted yet were still in the same black, grey and red colour scheme as before but the paint work was bolder, I imagined you would notice it even in the dim light. The floors had been re-carpeted and the dance floor had a sheen on it so bright it looked like it might be a safety hazard even though Eric assured me it wasn't when I voiced my opinion. Apart from that I couldn't really see any definable difference apart from the tables had been pushed closer to the booths to allow more space for dancing since we were anticipating a large crowd.

"Do you need me to do anything?" I asked before we reached the entrance way to the back rooms. We'd been stopped by several of the waitresses asking about random little things, I picked from their minds they were just looking for an excuse to talk to Eric. Fortunately for me I no longer grew jealous by these incidents knowing that Eric only had eyes for me, well I'm sure he looked because everyone does at some point, but he never had any intention on doing more than that.

"Just stay with me," he replied easily and we walked down the hall way to his office where I took a careful perch on the sofa while he went to his desk chair and started up the computer. A comfortable silence settled between us after he'd thrown me one of the books that I kept stocked in a cupboard behind his desk and he'd started typing away at the computer with an adorable, I would never tell him that little detail, expression etched on his face as he concentrated.

Just before the party was supposed to actually start the office door opened immediately after a cursory knock and Pam walked in looking like an extra from a bad Hollywood vampire movie. The neckline scooped down outrageously, so much so that I prayed she'd used tape or we may be about to experience an unwanted show. The main dress was crimson red with a fine lace cover in a spider web design in a slightly different shade, it was long enough to trail across the ground as well. Over the top she was wearing a crushed velvet black gown of some sort; long flared sleeves that almost covered her hands and it tied around her impressively svelte waist with black ribbon even though the shoulders barely covered any of the pale flesh of her shoulders since it gaped so much. Around her neck were several black bead chains and crosses that I'm sure matched the bangles around her wrist that I could just about hear when she moved.

"Pam! How are you?" Eric asked with a wide grin, the camaraderie between them only achieved by their close bond and the fact that Pam dared to give it back, most of the time, as good as she got.

"Bad, I hate the dress and I hate serving." She huffed, folding her arms over her ample chest which only made me giggle slightly when I saw the little length of white plastic she was holding in her right hand. Eric didn't bother to reply; they both knew that she would continue to do what was asked until her punishment was over. That didn't however mean that she wouldn't complain. "I've also been told by one of the waitresses that this," she held the badge up for Eric's scrutiny before continuing, "Is the identification tag I've got to wear!" Thankfully Eric's eyes didn't even flicker to me; he was going to take the heat.

"Yes, I thought it would give you some humbling." I barely held my snort of laughter in; if anyone needed humbling it would be Eric. He wasn't bad around me, yet around anyone else he could be slightly unbearable, his ego seemed to get the better of him.

"Fine." Her arms went back around her chest defensively before she turned and gave me a knowing smile, dipping her head slightly in greeting. "Ready," was her parting shot to Eric before she disappeared down the corridor, the door shutting behind her with a soft click.

"Come on then lover," Eric stood from behind his desk to walk over to me where he gently tossed my book aside without giving me time to memorise the page, and I was pulled into his arms. His lips lingered on mine in a kiss that made me want to stuff the party and stay safely within the confines on his office, but he pulled back, a mischievous smile proudly displayed and he pulled me with him down the hallway towards the bar.

The noise that hit me as soon as the door was open was unimaginable; I'd never quite seen the bar like it. A live vampire band, I wasn't sure how they'd managed to secure one on such short notice, was playing in the corner of the room surrounded by a crowd of people at least ten deep already and more were spewing in through the entrance. The bartenders were rushed off of their feet filling out everyone's orders and most of the booths were taken even though it was only a little after six thirty, the designated start of the party. I also noticed that everyone was in their finery and there were few tourists, the Goths had gone all out on their dress with long black evening gowns interspersed between the punk rockers and fangbangers. I couldn't stop the smile spreading across my face; the music was good, the atmosphere was electric and everyone was in a good mood which simply meant the entire thing was contagious.

With my hand on Eric's arm we made our way through the crowd which parted at the sight of Eric impossibly quickly, with a few people even turning around to gape fully at the gorgeous vampire in a tuxedo. It may have been slightly overkill for a refurbishment grand reopening, but he was technically dead and he looked mighty fine it so I wasn't complaining. We made our way to a booth in the back corner that had the reserved tags strewn everywhere, which Eric deftly knocked aside, and we took our seats. Our regular drinks order was placed in front of us only a few seconds later.

"You ready?" He asked me, genuine excitement clear on his face. Before I could respond though there was small tap on my right shoulder. Turning around I saw my best friend stood before me.

"Amelia!" I squealed and launched myself from the bench into her open arms which she gladly wrapped around my shoulders, squeezing me tight.

"Sookie!" She replied with equal vigour and we began to rock each other from side to side in our exuberance.

"What are you doing here?" I half whispered in shock once we'd pulled back to arms length, our hands still holding each other though. I couldn't really believe that she was standing before me, she wasn't supposed to be here until the weekend and I hadn't seen her in ages, much too long to go without seeing a true friend.

"Eric called me and I managed to pull a few strings," she giggled at me and I turned around to glare at Eric who was now stood just behind me with a smirk. I'm sure that my sparkling eyes and quivering lips did more than enough to show him that I wasn't really mad; I couldn't stay mad at him when his surprise was so good. "You look beautiful by the way." She stated loudly enough to be heard over the music and successfully pulled me back into her, giving me another brief hug before we turned to the booth to sit down.

"Thank-you, so do you." It was an honest statement, even if she was standing out like a sore thumb in the sea of black with her bright emerald green silk dress that just seemed to flow everywhere yet still hug all the right curves. Just after we'd sat down another two drinks appeared on the table. Looking up to find who the other drink was for I discovered Tray, looking mighty uncomfortable in the bar but still offering me a grin as a greeting. I'd only met him a couple of times, though I'd spoken to him quite a lot on the phone while waiting for Amelia to take over. He was a good guy, especially for Amelia as he seemed to keep her somewhat grounded. The only slight downfall he had was that he was a Werewolf and I was completely biased to the side of vampires. That slight genetic issue there probably explained why he looked so uncomfortable in a vampire bar and why he only sipped at his bear, not wanting to lose any of his inhibitions so that he could stay in complete control.

"How long are you here for?" Mentally I was concocting a list of all the potential things we could do while she was in town.

"A few days, we should go shopping and I'll come with you tomorrow to see how Merlotte's is coping without me." Just like that we fell back into each other's company and couldn't stop talking, even though it was difficult due to the noise level. Our glasses never quite reached empty before they were replaced, it doesn't hurt to the boss' sweetie, and Eric kept coming over to check on us and he always managed to find an excuse to lean in close to me, usually nipping my ear. It was due to the never emptying glasses; at least that's what I told myself anyway, that after a couple of hours of just talking Amelia dragged me onto the dance floor without any protest from me.

The vampire band was still playing to what felt like an ever growing crowd and the whole bar was heaving with most heads bopping along to the music at least. The band had never taken a break, they didn't really need one. We managed to wiggle into a small space near the side of the main dance floor and we began to move to the beat, hands never leaving the other. Laughing, with hands on hips, we began swaying and stepping to the music, letting the notes flow over us. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Eric watching me from near the bar, his head clearly visible over the crowd which seemed to consist of mainly women around the dance floor.

"I've missed you Sookie," Amelia squealed with delight when one of her favourite songs started up and she immediately stepped in closer to me, one of her arms slung around my waist, the other around my shoulders as we continued to dance. Our bodies bumped along together, using the skirts on our dresses to make our legs look like they were doing more exciting things than the fast stepping they were actually doing. A fine sheen of sweat began to cover my skin through the heat, causing a few strands of hair to stick to the back of my neck and I could feel my chest beginning to heave slightly with the deep breaths I was taking. Our bodies worked in synchronisation, moving deftly with each but managing to maintain the couple of inches gap so that we weren't quite grinding on one another.

"I love this one!" I exclaimed as the next song came on and Amelia spun around in my arms, her back to my chest and continued swaying our hips to the music, both of us singing along to the music since no one would be able to hear us. The male vampire lead crooned out the words expressively and our peeling laughter fell out amongst the words. My hands twirled her around with a flourish so that we were once again facing each other, leaning in so that we could sing along better.

About halfway through the song a warm hand was place on my waist and it didn't belong to Amelia. I tensed up immediately at the contact yet my hips continued to sway even though the words had died on my lips; I was no longer used to this sort of thing and cold hands were pretty much all I was used to without my prior knowledge. Amelia, sensing my discomfort pulled back, stopping her singing, to look over my shoulder at whoever had interrupted us. I spun around in search of the owner of the wandering hand, everyone here knew that I was Eric's, we spent a lot of time together here and there were several photos we'd posed for scattered along the walls. I came face to face with a fresh faced young man with a mop of shaggy brown hair and a few days worth of stubble on his chin which gave a grungy yet handsome look.

"Excuse me," I stated loudly, making sure he could hear me over the music. I spoke with finality, dismissing him with my tone in the hope that I wouldn't have to make even the beginnings of a scene; sadly it didn't seem like fortune was on my side. His hand slid further down so that he was grasping my hip, pulling me gently towards him even though my feet remained in place. "I don't want to dance so get your hands off of me! Leave me alone!" I snarled at him after another second of him tugging on me, trying to encourage me to join him. Huffing loudly enough for him to hear my protest, I pulled his hand off of me and let it drop in the air, about a foot from my body. Just as I did so a large hand clamped down on his shoulder causing a physical jerking of his body that I could see.

"The lady said to leave her alone, you best do as she said, I won't bother restraining her." The white hand on the young man's shoulder tightened, causing him to grimace with pain before he hastily made his retreat, disappearing into the crowd. "You okay lover?" Eric asked quietly, whispering into my ear and his hands holding onto my waist possessively.

"Yeah I'm fine, you know you didn't have to step in there," I replied back, my arms having snaked around his waist in a hug. Working at Merlotte's for years meant that I was somewhat used to having to shove off the occasional patron who'd had too much to drink and was suffering from wandering hands syndrome. I was just a little out of practice; people in Bon Temps quickly learnt I was with a vampire and they also knew how much of a giant he was.

"I know, you were handling it, I think he was going to go, I just couldn't take the chance. You bring out the protective side of me." He gave me a chaste kiss to the lips before spinning me around quickly, causing me to shriek with surprise, and pulled me back into his chest with his arms around my waist. "Hello Amelia," he greeted the girl in front of us who was now sporting a wide, knowing grin. She shook her head quickly as though to clear it of whatever thoughts she was thinking about me and my vampire and she began to dance on her own.

With my vampire wrapped around me I began to dance as well, mirroring her moves so that we were still dancing together even though I now had a security blanket. No man would put thoughts into action where I was concerned tonight now, not after they'd witnessed me with Eric; I was off limits and I honestly didn't mind. I wasn't interested in their advances; I just wanted to have a good time. As I leant forward to sing with Amelia again this time and old Queen cover which sent my bottom digging into Eric where I felt just what my dancing had done to him. Smirking over my shoulder at him I could see the heat in his eyes.

"That's what you do to me lover," he whispered when I was straightened up enough for him to reach my ear. "Pam needs me for something." He added quickly, pulling back after placing a tender kiss on the area of my neck where it met my shoulder. I nodded my head and turned back to Amelia, wrapping my arms around the shoulder of my friend, holding on tightly. It had been too long since we'd been able to let loose like this.

"What was that about?" She asked me in the interlude between songs that was only filled with the vampire addressing the audience.

"Protective instincts," I replied dryly. "Ooh, Pink!" I exclaimed as one of the most amusing Aerosmith songs began to play, I was almost ashamed to admit it but the vampires seemed to be doing a better job, making the already pretty much explicit lyrics even more filled with sexual connotations.

Laughing together we swayed slowly to the beat, arms interlocked but those were the only parts of our bodies that were physically touching even though we were stood closely. The bodies around us were getting into the music and if anything the dancing throng was getting larger, even though I hadn't seen anybody new walk through the entrance in awhile. I assumed we'd reached maximum safety capacity for regulations. I shook off the boring thoughts and turned my full attention for the music.

"I want to be your lover," Eric whispered in my ear as his hands graced my sides lightly. "Amelia, thank-you for coming, but I'm going to be taking your dance partner away now." His body stooped down to wrap around me, his arms around my waist and nose tucked into my neck, probably serving dual purpose of getting close to me and also marking me as his. It didn't really bother me as much anymore, I knew what vampires were liked and I wasn't being materialistic about me.

"Amelia, it's great seeing you but I really should go." She smirked at me, knowing precisely why we were leaving so early from the party but she didn't question my about it, instead she simply wrapped her arms around my neck in a fierce hug, pushing Eric out of the way to do so. "I'll see you tomorrow and we'll make plans." I returned the hug and we said our goodbyes, giving each other a quick kiss on the cheek.

"You lover, are sometimes too much," he chuckled deeply and directly into my ear, letting his breath trail across my neck which sent Goosebumps across my skin. He pulled me gently out of the crowd since they moved aside in his presence and we were soon walking down the silent back hallway towards the staff entrance. "I don't think I mentioned this, but you dancing with Amelia..." he let his voice trail off and I was quick enough glancing upwards at him to see his eyebrows wiggling. I slapped his arm softly knowing that even if I used all of my strength it was unlikely to hurt him but that it would hurt me.

"Is Amelia staying at the house?" I asked since I hadn't heard her mention anything.

"No, I paid for them to stay in a hotel." At my widened eyes he continued, "The best on in the area, all expenses paid for."

"Is this just so she wouldn't be staying in the spare bedroom?" We walked out into the cold night air and Eric immediately wrapped his tuxedo jacket around my shoulder followed swiftly by his arm, the latter mainly so that he could hold me close. There was no around for him to keep any form of public pretences up with so it was simple Eric and Sookie now.

"Yes." He replied honestly. He reached down and opened the car door for me, holding my hand steady to help me inside with the heels that I was wearing which I promptly took off my aching feet as soon as I sat down. Once he was sat beside me in the car he picked up with his answer. "It's not purely selfish; Amelia was bringing her boyfriend so booking them into a hotel gives them some privacy too. I may invest in soundproofing the walls our home." He mused quietly to himself but I grinned at the words just as I did every time he called our house together home.

"Okay, Tray seems like a decent enough guy, it was good to finally meet him although I think I'll have to meet him properly while they're here." Eric had reversed out of the parking space by this point and had grabbed my hand like always when we were driving.

"He's not bad for a shifter, I'll give you that. He's got a backbone if he came into Fangtasia." It was a grudging acceptance and I doubted if it would get any better, but for a vampire and werewolf it wasn't bad at all. "Enough talk of the two natured, I wanted to ask you something."

"Okay." I turned to face him in the seat, one leg tucking underneath to make the new position more comfortable, I didn't care if my dress hiked up anymore; it wasn't like anyone could see since Eric would keep his eyes on the road.

"Do you remember what we talked about the night I was cursed," his voice paused slightly before he said that word; I knew he didn't like thinking of himself as being so vulnerable.

"Yeah, you wanted to bond again." I replied without hesitation then gasped slightly as I caught on to what he was thinking about, the wave of happiness that mentally passed between us certainly helped.

"Yes. I still do lover, I'll repeat what I said that night. I want us close, I don't and didn't like being separate from you and I can feel the bond getting weaker as the nights pass." I sunk into my head then and concentrated for a few seconds on the presence I could feel between us, shockingly he was right. The bond had weakened more than what I'd realised. "Do you want to?"

"Of course I do," I replied breathily, the mental images of what our bonding nights meant crashed through my mind, causing my cheeks to heat up in a blush. "I want to be close." My hand squeezed his tightly as he continued to drive, bring us nearer to home and even though he was already speeding, he couldn't go fast enough.

Eventually though, after the rest of the journey was spent in silence with the tension between us growing as we thought about our bond and the effect it had on each other, we finally pulled up outside our home. Eric was beside my door in a blink, having parked the car in front of the house which showed just how impatient he was. When he held his hand out for me, which I gratefully took even though I still wasn't wearing my shoes, I found myself pulled into his chest with his arm around my waist. He placed a gentle kiss on my forehead, his nose skimming across my hair as he pulled back and I could hear him breathing so that he could take in my scent

"Whoa!" I shrieked in half delight half panic when he pulled me up into his arms bridal style. My head fell back in happy laughter when he bent his head to skim his nose so lightly across my neck that it tickled. The car door was shut behind with a soft kick from his foot and the beeping soon after alerted me that he'd somehow managed to press the remote locking button on the key. I was also stunned that I was still in possession of my shoes and clutch bag which were resting on my stomach.

We made it inside without either one of us being bumped or looking at the door which he managed to unlock and carry my through smoothly. His mouth never moved from its place against my neck where he kept peppering kisses and licks that made me sigh out with contentment. As soon as we were inside the door was shut quickly with a swift kick and my things were dumped unceremoniously to the floor where they would lay forgotten until at least morning. I wrapped my hands around the back of his neck, letting my fingers weave into the hair there so I could easily pull him up a few inches from my neck so that he could meet my lips. Kisses were showered on me, all too chaste for my liking and I growled against him which only earned me a chuckling response.

"Bedroom." I stated harshly, making myself sound as authoritative as I could muster before quickly crushing my lips against his and taking control. My lips moved forcefully against his, coercing the response I wanted out of him until I could feel his sharp fangs digging into my tongue which was exploring his mouth.

Suddenly his right arm gave out underneath me, sending my legs toppling down and a gasp escaped from my lips. Still held with his left arm my legs connected with the soft bed and my thudding heart relaxed slightly. My legs quickly found purchase and I knelt up in his arms, concentrating on nothing but the feel of him around me, assaulting my sense. His cool body was pushed up against mine with only the thin cotton of his shirt separating my arms from him. His scent clouded my mind, that mix of soap, linen and something else that was just simply Eric and could never be recreated, all I knew is that it meant home. His soft lips began to leave mine, trailing down my neck, tracing the line that one of my veins carried until he reached my collar bone.

His hands eased around until he found the zip at the back of my dress which he immediately began to unfasten, moving achingly slowly. His mouth travelled across to the hollow between my collar bones where he nipped the skin carefully, enough for me to feel his teeth but not enough to break the surface and his tongue licked where his teeth had been after. He moved further down, traversing a line down the centre of my chest and as his hand unzipped my dress his chin pushed it down, kissing the newly expose skin as he went. Between the swell of my breasts he went, accompanied by my frustrated groans as he ignored the very places that I wanted him to lavish attention. My arms slipped down from his neck to grasp his shoulders tightly, steadying my body.

When he reached the end of the zip, my dress pushed down to nearly my belly button his hands moved to grab the fabric covering my hips. He pulled harshly, springing my body free from the dress in one motion and leaving me in only my underwear, the satin and lace pooled around my knees. "Hmm, lover," he whispered into my skin as he gently pushed me back onto the bed until I was flat on my back with him looming over me, his eyes dark with pure desire. My hands wound down from his shoulders until I got to the collar of his shirt which miraculously still held the bow tie that I'd straightened for him earlier, although it was more than a little crooked now. Nimbly, my fingers unfastened it and pulled it quickly from his neck, just letting it fall to the mattress without thought so that I could start working on his shirt buttons.

The smirk never left his face as he gazed down at me lovingly while I worked. He never made a move to either assist me or to stop me, he simply watch on and I could feel his cool breath on my face, a sure sign that he was being taken over with sensations and feelings. I tugged harshly on his shirt once the buttons were undone, pulling out of the waist band of his trousers and letting the sides fall. Eric was so close the sides touched the bed at either side of me, cocooning our bodies in the cotton, and the shirt was only just the palest thing I could see. With what felt like a fever taking over me my hands pushed at the material covering his shoulders so that it would move down his arms, leaving his chest bare for me to pounce on.

He finally moved, the smirk disappearing as an expression I could only describe as sex covered his handsome face and he knelt back, peeling off his shirt. My hands instantly worked themselves over the hard muscles of his chest, fingertips playing with the light splattering of blond hairs there until I reached his taught stomach. I traced the etchings of the muscles there and I felt the muscles low in my own stomach clenching. His hands moved to clasp mine, trapping both of mine in one of his large one, his fingers wrapping around my wrists tightly. My hands were quickly pinned to the bed above my head leaving my back arched slightly and the rise and fall of my chest from laboured breathing exaggerated.

"I want more lover," he whispered quietly, so much so that I barely heard him above the thudding of my heart. I understood him though, I knew somehow that he wasn't just talking about tonight, he was talking about us.

"Yes, soon," I replied back, not entirely sure what I was agreeing to but wanting it all the same. A toothy grin transformed his face into a cheeky young man and his head dipped lower, licking and kissing the mound of my breast that he could access above the lace of the bra. "Please," I moaned loudly, willing him to hurry it up, there was a definite fire starting inside me now.

Chuckling, his nose poked inside the red lace, down inside the black cotton and his tongue followed behind, cooling my flesh with his breath and licking after. Shivers crept across my entire body until I was perpetually quivering underneath him since his body was now pressing me down in the mattress, which let me feel every hard line of his body. His free hand trailed down from my wrist, fingertips dancing across my flesh to my shoulder, across to the base of my neck and then down to my bra which he quickly unfastened. He wasted no time in taking one nipple into his mouth, sucking deeply and then running his fangs across them hard enough to scratch.

"Lover," he sucked harder and I felt the beads of blood form through my broken skin. "You taste..." his voice trailed off as his tongue ran over the little cuts that would already be healing.

He pressed my hands firmly into the bed then, commanding me to keep them there silently, so that he could sweep down my body with his hands until they gripped the black lace that covered my only part of the swell of my hips. His kisses drew softer, until he planted one last tongue swirling kiss over my right nipple and moved down. Open mouthed, sucking kisses that were almost bites were planted every few centimetres on my body until he came to the top of my panties. He nipped at me there, where my flesh was tender at the point where my stomach turned into much lower, more pleasurable things. His fingers hooked underneath the lace, bunching up the sides slightly and he knelt back off of my body to watch as the lace revealed me to him, running his hands over my smooth legs as he did so. I continued to stare at him, fully exposed and revelling at the adoration I could his see in his eyes.

"Beautiful," he whispered once I was completely naked before him. Growling, I lifted on hand from the bed to reach out to him to which he only shook his head, admonishing me. Pouting I placed my arm back and waited, impatiently for him to make his move. Another growl after only a couple of seconds sent him into action, slinking down low onto the duvet he crawled up my body, pushing my legs apart as he did so. Before he got there I knew what he was planning to do and the mere memory of it sent my back arching. When he reached my thighs he grasped them powerfully in his hands, spreading my legs further and allowing him easy access.

His tongue teased me lightly, barely touching my heated flesh, as it traced patterns over my skin. Suddenly his fingers were on me, exposing my clitoris to his mouth which he wasted no time in lavishing attention on. "Fuck," I mumbled, unintelligibility caused by the sensation and my vocabulary had just taken a steep downward plummet. His right hand moved from my thigh, sneaking up my stomach to caress my breasts, rolling my nipples gently between his fingertips before lowering his hand once again. He traced down by the side of his mouth until one of his gloriously long fingers was at my entrance. Then in a synchronised move I didn't even want to think about properly, two fingers pushed inside me as he bit down, sinking his fangs into me. To say I was lost would be an understatement.

"Lover," he growled deeply, loud enough to bring me somewhat back down to Earth. He was hovering above me, his face mere inches above mine, his face had more colour to it and his lips were smeared crimson with my blood. Jelly like arms reached up and wrapped around his neck so that I could pull him down to me in a searing kiss.

"You are wearing way too many clothes," I mumbled against him, hoping that he could hear me. My legs had wrapped around his waist in the hope of pulling him into me but I'd found trousers in my way. Finding strength and coordination I didn't know I still possessed I rolled us over so that he was on his back and I was the one hovering above. I couldn't go slowly though, I couldn't tease him like he'd teased me so my hands simply found the waistband of his trousers and yanked them down, not caring for the buttons or the zipper. I slid the material down, splaying my fingers as I did so that I could feel as much of his muscular legs as possible. Not soon enough for me he was completely naked with me straddling his hips and my hands were gripping his shoulder while we kissed.

"Eric, I want to be bonded again," I murmured into his ear and I could feel the shiver ripple through his body at my words, if it was possible bonding meant even more to him that it did to me. I bit down on his neck then, not hard enough to break through the skin but enough to cause him to moan.

"Lover." Without warning he flipped us over so that I was once again on my back and I didn't bother waiting to wrap my legs around his waist, holding him close to me. I gripped his wrist, pulling it up to my mouth and I bit down, my teeth sinking into him and blood began to pool into my mouth. With another of his growls still reverberating around the room he pushed into my, sending my head falling back onto the pillow, my hands gripping tightly were the only thing that kept me latched onto his wrist.

"I love you," he whispered once before he bit down on my neck, his hard fangs sinking deep into my flesh. The pressure in my body intensified instantly, my eyes rolled back into my head at all the different sensations. With one more thrust we both tumbled over the edge into the darkness of ecstasy, the pleasure bounding back and forth between our minds that were bonded once again.

"I'll never forget you again," Eric whispered. Time had passed and we'd finally regained control over our bodies which included my breathing returning to normal. The duvet was pulled up to my chest, keeping the chill air of the bedroom at bay and Eric was pressed up against me with both of us still naked. We couldn't bare to have anything between us.

His mouth peppered kiss across my neck as I sighed and ran my fingers through his hair in return. I could feel him in my head and simple love he felt for me in that moment, no other emotion marring his feelings and I'm sure he was getting the same from me. "I remember you," he added and he finally lay back onto his own pillow, pulling me with him so that my head was rest on his chest. I couldn't lie still though and it was my turn to pepper kisses across on him. "I remember everything." A faint smile crossed his lips but died down. He nodded his head once, deeply, in acknowledgement of everything that had passed between us during his time with amnesia. I knew we wouldn't really be discussing anything that happened during that time for awhile, everything important had already been talked about and I knew he forgave me for my behaviour. If it had bothered him, he would have said something. "I still want more."

"I know, me too." After one more kiss I settled back down beside him, my head resting on his still chest and I let the coolness of his body soothe me.

I wasn't saying that everything would be pain sailing, I was willing to bet that it wasn't. But we were ready to get back to our normal lives, at least until we faced the next hurdle we had to overcome, but that's what you get for living your life with a vampire.

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**So what did you think? I'm sure you all know this by now, but I love feedback almost as much as I love a certain Viking vampire. Yeah, I think I wrapped everything up enough anyway, but I'm sure you'll let me know if I didn't. He remembers at the end because they exchanged blood. Also i'm sorry for any confusion i caused in the previous chapter with my explanation of Chow, i hope i've cleared that up for everyone that said they were confused by it. As for my new story, I have my idea written out and I've started working on the first chapter. I have two Beta readers Campyrs and BloodSucker815 so I'm pretty excited about this new story so expect some new material within the next week. With that I leave you. Thanks again and have a really good weekend *hugs***


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